CNN’s Context-Free Profile of Iranian Jewry

In November 2018, HonestReporting called out PBS for whitewashing the theocratic Iranian regime in its profile of the country’s historic Jewish community.

At the time, we pointed out how PBS was selective in its coverage of Iran’s Jewish community, focusing on the seeming positives while covering up the structural discrimination that affects the Jewish community.

Now, almost eight years later, CNN has published a new profile of the Iranian Jewish community but has fallen for the same traps that marred PBS’s report.

This profile by Frederik Pleitgen, who we have previously critiqued for amplifying Iranian regime narratives, attempts to portray the Jewish presence in Iran as a story of a minority living in peace with the majority Muslim population, with Israel serving as the villain attempting to disrupt this largely tranquil status quo.

However, behind this rosy picture of cross-cultural camaraderie, there are systemic issues plaguing the Iranian Jewish community that are not addressed by either Pleitgen or CNN.

For example, Pleitgen interviewed Homayoun Sameyah, who was introduced as Iran’s “only Jewish member of parliament.” What isn’t said is that Sameyah is the only Jewish member of parliament because it is illegal for there to be more than one. According to the Iranian constitution, non-Muslims may not hold elected office or senior government positions, aside from the designated seats for religious minorities (in the Jewish community’s case, one parliamentary seat).

Pleitgen also makes much of Jewish schools in Iran, celebrating the fact that they teach both regular courses and Jewish studies in both Farsi and Hebrew. However, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom (the last year that a report was published), Iranian authorities allowed these schools to operate so long as the principal was Muslim.

Other issues that are ignored by this picturesque profile are the negative portrayals of Jews by some Iranian media outlets, the fact that the community’s chief rabbi (as well as regular members of the community) are not free to publicly express themselves on political matters, and that, as non-Muslims, Jews are not treated the same as Muslims before the courts.

Frederik Pleitgen has a history of taking Iranian regime narratives and packaging them as seemingly objective and independent news items for CNN’s international audience. His latest one-sided profile of the Iranian Jewish community appears to be a continuation of this deceptive practice.

Liked this article? Follow HonestReporting on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to see even more posts and videos debunking news bias and smears, as well as other content explaining what’s really going on in Israel and the region. Get updates direct to your phone. Join our WhatsApp and Telegram channels!