According to Reuters’ own standards, relying on anonymous sources must be done with utmost caution. But an article and video today promoting Hassan Khomeini – a possible successor to Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – as supposedly moderate and pragmatic throws that caution into the wind.
Reuters’ Parisa Hafezi, who previously covered up the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 2022 determination that it was “not in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful,” again steps up in the service of the Iranian regime. In her article today about possible successors to Khamenei, Parisa writes that her information originates with “five insiders with knowledge of the discussions” held by Iranian regime’s council appointed to select the next rule (“Succession plans for Iran’s Khamenei hit top gear,” also available in Arabic).
Hafezi reports about Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic revolution:
Khomeini, a close ally of the reformist faction that favours the easing of social and political restrictions, nonetheless commands respect among senior clerics and the Revolutionary Guards because of his lineage, the sources added. . . .
Khomeini has come into the frame as a serious candidate this month amid the conflict with Israel and America because he could represent a more conciliatory choice internationally and domestically than Mojtaba Khamenei, the five people said. [Emphasis added.]
While Khomeini has indeed expressed reformist views regarding domestic social and internal political restrictions, “conciliatory choice” is an odd description for a prospective national leader who has called for wiping another country off the face of the earth. In an Oct. 1, 2024 interview with Channel 1 (Iran), the Hassan Khomeini stated (translation by MEMRI):
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s solution for a Palestinian state is a referendum. Whoever gets the most votes wins. This will ultimately wipe out Israel, and they know it. If the majority of the people vote, they [Israelis] will not be able to govern. Therefore, they do not accept the return of the refugees. Historically, when they consider the two-state solution… Every time that the Americans, English, and Israelis mention it – even though the Israelis get very angry about it – they try to make the world accept the legitimacy of the Israeli regime. […]
It is wrong to think that if we leave Israel alone, it would leave us alone […]
Israel will not back down from anything, unless it is faced with force and power.
While Hafezi does not reveal the identity of the “five insiders,” she does openly cite Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group.
In addition, the 4:36 minute video accompanying the article dedicates generous time — 1:48 minutes — to Vaez’s pro-Khomeini views, including his own direct remarks, plus the narrator’s uncritical reporting of his statements. In particular, Vaez states: “It will be a smart move for Ayatollah Khameini to appoint or push for Hassan Khomeini to become his successor.” Of Hassan Khomeini, Vaez adds: “He also appears to be a relative moderate and pragmatic figure.” The Reuters video, like the article, supplies no alternative view.
Reuters’ Standards and Values call on its journalists to be transparent about its sources:
Be honest in sourcing and in obtaining information. Give as much context and detail as you can about sources, whether named or anonymous, to authenticate information they provide. Be explicit about what you don’t know.
But Reuters’ Hafezi is not transparent about Vaez or International Crisis Group, where he serves as Iran director. She positions him as an independent and impartial observer of the Iranian regime, but there are serious allegations that Vaez worked as a mouthpiece on behalf of the Islamic regime. As CAMERA’s Sean Durns previously reported, ICG, and Vaez in particular, maintained undisclosed links with the Iranian regime:
Semafor and Iran International, announced [in early 2024] that they had conducted a joint investigation into ICG and its former head, Robert Malley. Malley left ICG to serve as the administration’s envoy for Iran talks.
Iran International reported that “the Iranian government formed an undisclosed alliance with the International Crisis Group during the Obama administration and used the prominent think tank to lobby the U.S. government on its behalf about nuclear issues…the cooperation with Crisis Group was carried out through the Iranian Ministry’s in-house think tank, the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), according to the cache of documents obtained by Iran International and shared with Semafor.” Among other things, IPIS has a history of Holocaust denialism.
Further: “The Crisis Group never made public the agreement it had with the Iranian foreign ministry, and its analysts never mentioned their close ties with Iranian officials.”
In September 2023—before Foreign Affairs published his article—Iran International and Semafor reported that more than 10 Iranian analysts in Western think tanks, including Vaez and his ICG colleague Dina Esfandairy, were “part of an influence network formed and guided by Tehran.
The documents viewed by Iran International and shared with Semafor indicate that talks between IPIS and ICG began in 2014—through Vaez.
Rob Malley, the former head of ICG, reportedly used Vaez to send messages to top Iranian officials, including then-foreign minister Javad Zarif, when Malley was serving in the Obama administration. The Biden administration appointed Malley to be Special Envoy to Iran in January 2021. In June 2023, it was revealed that Malley had been put on leave following the suspension of his security clearance.
Thus, if the Semafor and Iran International findings are accurate, Reuters relies on an alleged undisclosed influencer working on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran to promote the regime’s apparent pick for the next supreme leader.
Moreover, Hefazi’s use of five anonymous sources appears to violates the organization’s strict policy, stating:
Reuters will publish news from a single, anonymous source in exceptional cases, when it is credible information from a trusted source with direct knowledge of the situation. Single-source stories are subject to a special authorisation procedure.
Update June 24, 3:30 PM ET: Times of Israel Improves Its Coverage
Times of Israel, which published an adapted version of the Reuters article, improved its coverage of Hassan Khomeini in response to communication from CAMERA concerning the problematic depiction of him as a "moderate."
The Times of Israel's subheadline had originally stated: "Mojtaba Khamenei, hardline son of supreme leader, said to be a frontrunner, alongside Hassan Khomeini, his predecessor's grandson, who is considered a relative moderate." Times of Israel editors deleted the latter part of the sentence describing Khomeini as "considered a relative moderate."
In addition, editors amended the passage stating that Khomeini "could represent a more conciliatory choice," to qualify that the succession candidate "could represent an ostensibly more conciliatory choice." (Emphasis added.)