Since the beginning of Al Salman’s reign over Saudi Arabia in 2015, the country has been seeking to establish media networks to hurt countries opposing its policies in the region.
Saudi Arabia which sees Iran as the key factor in its failures in the region from Syria and Iraq to Yemen has been using all tools to hurt Iran since 2015, according to Iranian official newspaper “Iran”.
Therefore, various media outlets and news networks with a fully anti-Iran approach were launched in different countries after 2016, from which Iran International is an example.
Iran International TV
Iran International is a network formed by Saudi Arabia in 2017 in London and adopts a completely anti-Iran approach.
Owner of Volant Media Ltd which runs Iran International is a Saudi man, named Adel Al-Abdulkarim.
Al-Abdulkarim has a long record of cooperation with individuals and companies in Saudi media and newspapers.
One of the staff members of Iran International has revealed that the network’s stories are influenced by some anonymous investors.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Saudi Arabia has provided a 250-million-dollar fund for Iran International in 2018.
The British weekly The Economist revealed that the investors of Iran International are Saudi nationals.
Also, the American newspaper the Wall Street Journal reported that individuals in Saudi Arabia have established and funded Iran International in order to compete against Iran’s influence in the region.
The Guardian says that former royal advisor Saud al-Qahtani who was fired after the 2018 murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is one of the under-the-curtain financial supporters of Iran International.
“… Saudi Arabia shows zero tolerance for criticism of its absolute monarchy, as underlined by Khashoggi’s murder, it is setting up media organizations in other languages promoting free speech, particularly about Iran,” the Guardian has reported.
Massoud Khodabandeh, former member of Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), disclosed some issues about the anti-Iran news network in an interview about two months ago.
According to Khodabandeh, Iran International is not an unknown network because its owner and its company had already been broadcasting the MKO programs.
Iran International has been established to be the MKO language, he noted, adding that the MKO session was covered live through Iran International two years ago.
For years ago, Iran International gave its tribune as an amateur move to the terrorist group who killed people in southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz in September 2018.
Although Iran International claims that it has no links with Saudis, its financial resources reveal that Saudi Arabia financially supports the network to follow Saudi regional policies.