Ahmadinejad: West media 'weapon of subterfuge'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says corporate media has turned into a weapon of subterfuge, with the sole aim of advancing the West's political agenda.

In a Saturday address to the Islamic Radio and TV Union Assembly, Ahmadinejad cited random examples of political bias in US and European media outlets.

As a first example of biased reporting in the West, Ahmadinejad pointed to the scant media coverage of Israel's three-week attack on Gaza, which killed over 3000 Palestinians mostly women and children, earlier in the year.

“Israelis easily used thousands of bombs against the defenseless population of Gaza Strip, who were stripped of medicine and their most essential needs. Now, eight months have passed and we see that the event has been already sunk into oblivion.”

Ahmadinejad said Israel has become a sacrosanct issue in the West, to an extent that you see no media criticism of the actions of Israel.

Then, Ahmadinejad turned to the sheer lack of media attention to the brutal murder of Marwa el-Sherbini, a pregnant Egyptian woman who was stabbed to death in a German courtroom while the whole jury and court officials stood by and watched.

Last but not least, Ahmadinejad pointed to the recent media hype over Iran's second nuclear enrichment plant. “In the past few days, we saw Western media outlets repeating false accusations against Iran's nuclear issue.”

“This is how the Western media works. First they distort facts and fabricate news. Then they incessantly repeat their false allegations, just to make sure that it is forever etched on the minds of people,” he said.

“[US President Barack Obama] made a huge mistake when he accused Iran of secrecy and gave rise to the flurry of false reports that we have been witnessing in recent days,” said President Ahmadinejad.

Referring to the sudden commotion over the newly-revealed Fordu nuclear facility in southern Tehran, President Ahmadinejad said Iran has always kept the IAEA posted on its enrichment work in line with its policy of transparency.

“Our activities are entirely based on honesty and transparency. We did not have any secrets as we informed the agency well in-advance,” he noted.

Ahmadinejad warned that the mainstream media in the West has grown to become more dangerous and more threatening than any chemical or nuclear weapons.

“The media campaign has turned into a full-fledged war. I believe the West's abundant arsenals of chemical and nuclear weapons are there to deceive and intimidate,” he said.

According to President Ahmadinejad, unbiased media does not exist in the West. “Claims of freedom of press are all lies, each and every one of the western media outlets serve the interests and policies of their states,” he said.

“When I was in New York for the General Assembly, I was interviewed by several news networks, all of which asked the exact same set of questions,” he said.

“I asked them how can you call yourself an independent media, when all the questions you are asking me have been clearly dictated by your governments. Which one of these questions are posed in the interest of your people?” he noted.

President Ahmadinejad said Iran's mission today is not limited to spreading information. Our main responsibility today is to defend humanity and to create a global culture in support of the oppressed people, he explained.