In a letter to Western media, the editors of six Iranian websites belonging to Principalist idealogues have complained about how post presidential election events have been reported in Western media outlets and while raising the same accusations that Iranian officials regularly do, accuse these outlets of distorting events in Iran and acting “unprofessionally.”

The operators of Alef, Tabnak, Jahan, KhabarOnline, Farda and HamshahriOnline websites have published a letter in Farsi and English addressed to American and Western media outlets, in which they ask them to review the reporting they have been doing over the past six months on Iran’s post election events using their “professional conscience.”

It is noteworthy that the example the writer of the letter uses to make his point is the murder of Neda Agha-Soltani. “Since the Iranian government was struggling to calm the public and the opposition sought to whip up excitement, in your opinion which side could expect to gain from murdering Neda? It continues by questioning the comments of the person who was at the scene of the murder and writes, “How are the inconsistencies in remarks made by Arash Hejazi in the video clip that is available and the BBC interview where he provides details justifiable? And as a more general question, how credible is the story when an assassination on a quiet street prompts passersby to move closer to film the victim up close instead of fleeing the scene? Did you consider such skepticism before you publicized the story? Was your conduct professional?”

Regarding Taraneh Mousavi, the writers of the letter accuse Western media of reporting on the news by resorting to an “obscure blog.”

Most of the letter is a repetition of the charges that officials of the Islamic republic bring against the British and US governments in that they engage in encouraging “rioting and instructing the destruction of public property, and support terrorist groups such as Abdol Malek Rigi.” The letter also says that Western media attributes the “killings of December 30, 2009, which took place because Mojahedin Khalq infiltrators at the Basij building, to the police.

The letter makes absolutely no reference to the behavior of the Iranian government in its treatment of Western journalists who were banned from appearing in the streets of Tehran and who were soon gradually expelled from Iran. The operators of these websites affiliated to the right also do not mention the limitations that foreign journalists were subjected to during this period, which includes participation in the demonstration, except the pro-government march, and even then only with a security escort and in predetermined locations.

The editors of the websites that have signed the letter are all well known individuals from the Principalist camp who are critical of the ninth and tenth administration.

Tabnak is the follower of the popular and sensational Baztab website which is run by individuals appointed by Mohsen Rezai, a former Passdaran Revolutionary Guards commander. HamshahriOnline is the website of Hamshahri newspaper, the official newspaper of Tehran municipality whose chief editor is appointed by Tehran’s mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Khabar website which in the past was the official newspaper of Khabar (a newspaper which for undisclosable reasons stopped its publication) is run by a person called Hossein Entezami, who is close to Ali Larijani. Alef website is affiliated to Ahmad Tavakoli while Jahan news is run by Alireza Zakani, an ally of Larijani in the Majlis.

Prior to the June 2009 presidential elections, Larijani, Rezai and Ghalibaf strived to create a front against reformists and supporters of Ahmadinejad for the upcoming elections, but which fell through because Ghalibaf withdrew his candidacy. The front continued its efforts with Rezai participating in the elections and with the support of Larijani. But these elections did not bring a better experience for the group than the 2005 presidential elections.

But despite this, the news of protests, killings and the injuries of protestors opposing Ahmadinejad’s government did not make it to these sites.