Western media rely on ‘data’ fed by notorious US-funded NGOs to misreport riots in Iran: Probe

An investigation has revealed how Western media have been relying solely on unsubstantiated “data” provided by notorious US-funded so-called NGOs to misreport the realities on the ground in Iran concerning foreign-backed riots.

The probe was conducted by Grayzone, and its results were published by the investigative outlet on Tuesday.

It named The Washington Post and ABC News as some of the American media outlets that have been relying on self-described “fact-based information” provided by the NGOs in their attempt at relaying developments inside Iran during the riots.

Grayzone identified the NGOs as the dubiously-titled ”Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran” and “Human Rights Activists in Iran” that are funded by Washington’s infamous regime-change arm, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

‘CIA linkage’

The “Human Rights Activists in Iran” has, itself, admitted to having connected itself to NED funding after the Islamic Republic discovered its links with the CIA.

The admission, however, evasively describes NED as “a non-governmental and non-profit organization based in the United States.”

One of NED’s founders, Allen Weinstein, also once confessed that “a lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”

Throughout its history, instances when NED has gone into overdrive have routinely coincided with the US’s escalating its hostile rhetoric towards its adversaries and floating the threat of military aggression.

This happened the last time, when President Donald Trump threatened to renew illegal and unprovoked strikes against Iran in the event of what he called the Islamic Republic’s confronting economic protests.

The protests began in late December, but were soon hijacked by riotous elements confirmed by Iranian intelligence to be in receipt of US and Israeli political, arms, logistical, and intelligence support.

According to Grayzone, in their attempt to portray the riots as the outcome of economic problems in Iran, the Western media outlets have “ignored a growing trove of video evidence showing terrorist tactics deployed across Iran by ‘protesters’ described by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as ‘largely peaceful.’”

“Recent videos published both by Iranian state media and anti-government forces reveal public lynchings of unarmed guards, the torching of mosques, arson attacks on municipal buildings, marketplaces, and fire stations, and mobs of armed gunmen opening fire in the heart of Iranian cities.”

Radical Trump allies and outlets with sketchy histories have, meanwhile, been coming up with hypothetical death tolls from what they have referred to as Iran’s “crackdown” on economic protests, Grayzone wrote.

It named one such personality as “Jewish supremacist Trump confidant Laura Loomer,” who had “crowed” an unsubstantiated fatality count “citing a supposed ‘source in the Intel community,’” besides naming the digital casino Polymarket, which calls itself the “world’s largest prediction market,” as an outlet conjuring up a similar figure.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir