Reuters supplied nearly $4 million worth of news services—including text, video, and photos—to IRIB and its subsidiary Press TV, U.S.-sanctioned state media arms linked to Iran’s IRGC and known for broadcasting forced confessions and regime propaganda.
Reuters communicated payment requests directly with Peyman Jebelli, a senior IRIB executive with close ties to Ayatollah Khamenei and a key figure in Iran’s global information warfare strategy. 🧵
Leaked internal emails from 2021 obtained by NCRI show a Reuters director sought roughly $3.88M in overdue payments from IRIB, Press TV’s parent org.
Likely due to sanctions, IRIB couldn’t pay directly, so it introduced a third-party agent. Reuters agreed to receive payment through that agent.
The Reuters director emails were addressed to two key figures: Peyman Jebelli and Ahmad Noroozi—later sanctioned by the U.S., EU, and Canada for their role in broadcasting coerced confessions and collaborating with Iranian intelligence.
Jul 30, 2025 · 8:16 PM UTC
Reuters made clear how dependent IRIB and Press TV were on its services and how important it was to keep them flowing.
“IRIB and Press TV have depended heavily on Reuters video and text services and I want to make sure that these services continue without any interruptions.”
“I am under pressure from my management to start receiving payments as soon as possible.”
Reuters noted its services were especially important to IRIB during “the recent Palestine/Israel crisis”—likely referring to the 2021 Gaza conflict. They also referenced tens of thousands of unique stories/video (live and footage) from Reuters that were on rotation hundreds of thousands of times.
Reuters did not disclose to investors that its client was IRIB—Iran’s most powerful state media group, with ties to the regime’s intelligence services.
In filings, it referred only to “one broadcasting entity in Iran” and cited a U.S. sanctions exemption for “informational materials,” like newswires.
Newswires and video feeds are essential for any broadcaster, including state-run outlets. Reuters admitted that “IRIB and Press TV depend heavily on Reuters video and text services and want to make sure these services continue without interruption.”
How significant was Reuters' role in supporting their propaganda operations? Is this relationship still ongoing?
These services were apparently provided while Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British citizen and Reuters Foundation employee, was imprisoned in Iran’s Evin Prison.
During that time, Press TV aired false propaganda about her to justify her detention—the very outlet Reuters was supplying.