(Washington Times) S. Rob Sobhani - From 2004 until 2010 I was in charge of overseeing the VOA Persian language programming into Iran. When I took over, few people inside Iran watched our live broadcasts. By 2008, we had a weekly viewership of 22 million. We expanded hard-hitting anti-regime programming, showing the Iranian people the cost of the Islamic regime to their economic well-being and national pride. We also spoke about the persecution of religious minorities, including members of the Baha'i faith. Not surprisingly, the regime fought back. A few of our high-profile presenters and I were labeled as "agents of the Zionist regime." In addition, agents of the Islamic regime who posed as "lobbyists," claiming to represent the interests of the Iranian-American community, solicited the support of members of Congress to put an end to our anti-regime content. Sadly, when President Obama took office, the VOA's senior leadership told us to tone down our anti-regime programs and even stop inviting certain guests. Our four-year investment in building a large following inside Iran was dismantled.
2018-08-16 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive