Kamangir (Archer)

Did IRNA change Norwegian Foreign Minister’s Words? (Important Update)

Kamangir | October 26, 2007 | Category Iran, Islamic Republic, media

You might know that I was following strange claims on Islamic Republic’s Press TV, also mentioned in Persian in Fars News [Persian] and IRNA [Persian]. The claim is that the Norwegian Foreign Minister has urged the West “to look at their nuke arsenal”, rather than pressuring Iran to dismantle its nuclear program.

I managed to contact a few people in the Foreign Ministry, but being a freelance blogger I did not have a lot of chances there. So, I resorted to the next move, being contacting journalists I know. Thanks to Farid Pouya, I had the chance to talk to a Norwegian journalist. Then, another friend found the text of the speech and, well, it seems someone has “forgotten” to refer to many of the sentences Jonas Gahr Store said at the UN University in Tokyo.

Looking at the text of his speech at UNU, Press TV’s report fails to deliver a full account of his reference to Iran. Store said,

Today, resolving the issues of Iran and North Korea is critical. The continued international concern over the nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and North Korea illustrates the need for compliance with the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), the demands of the UN Security Council and of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

…We have also seen some signs of positive development from Iran. The IAEA has made great efforts to resolve outstanding issues related to Iran’s past nuclear activities. But there are still too many uncertainties surrounding the present activities that have to be sorted out. Only Iran can deliver on that account. Iran must allow full and unconditional inspections by the IAEA. And it must comply with the demands of the international community to suspend all nuclear activities. By doing so, Iran would contribute to a negotiated political outcome to the benefit of all the parties concerned.

oth North Korea and Iran must be brought to realise that they have everything to gain by discontinuing their nuclear programmes. However, the challenges before us goes beyond Iran and North Korea.

There are still some 27 000 nuclear warheads in existence. This does not make sense nearly 20 years after the end of the Cold War. The disarmament process must be brought back on track.

The Islamic Republic media outlet, Press TV, misses the criticism and jumps to the sentence which seems to suite their purpose.

The challenge goes beyond Iran and North Korea. I believe that those who argue against these countries need to look at their own credibility to do so,

This sentence is indeed mentioned by Store, as seen in the video of his speech, but after a long introduction (Thanks to Jeremy Hedley from UNU for the link).

Also, the two Persian state-run sources provide two different translations of the sentence mentioned by Press TV. Fars writes a sentence which matches Press TV’s. IRNA, however, writes,

I believe that those who argue against Iran and North Korea need to look at their own nuclear warfare capabilities and reduce their own arsenal.

Update: Not everyone liked this: MP’s Website attacks Kamangir

Important Update: I had written,

Press TV’s report, however, includes

The challenge goes beyond Iran and North Korea. I believe that those who argue against these countries need to look at their own credibility to do so,

The second part of this sentence does not exist on the complete text, as provided by the UNU.

As Jeremey Hedley from UNU pointed out, the text does exist in the video of his speech, but not in the text of the speech. So, I correct this. He did mention this sentence but after a long discussion about Islamic Republic’s tense situation. The Islamic Republic media missed the introduction.

On the Islamic Republic Press TV’s Claim (Updated)

Kamangir | October 26, 2007 | Category Iran, Islamic Republic

Islamic Republic’s Press TV published a report today claiming that the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store has apparently criticized the West for focusing too much on Iran and “forgetting their own nuclear arsenal”.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store has urged the West to dismantle their nuclear arsenals instead of exerting pressure on Iran.

During an address at the United Nations University in Tokyo on Thursday, he said the world should address the issue of its nuclear arsenals.

“The challenge goes beyond Iran and North Korea. I believe that those who argue against these countries need to look at their own credibility to do so,” the minister added.

The same piece is carried on the Persian Fars News, where AFP is mentioned as the source [Persian].

I spent about an hour searching at Google and found absolutely nothing. Still, I wasn’t able to imagine that they could have just made it up. So, I have contacted the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. Let’s see what happens.

Update: Did IRNA change Norwegian Foreign Minister’s Words?