Rouhani
Presser
Has Nuclear
Accusations,
Nothing on
Rights or
Press
Freedom
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 27
-- No one can
say that
Iranian
president
Hassan
Rouhani's
Friday press
conference was
too short --
it ran for an
hour. It could
have been
better
organized: no
one said, at
least from
the 11 am
start time on,
that
journalists
had to sign up
to be
considered for
a question.
But
of the
questions
taken, not a
single one
concerned or
even mentioned
human rights,
or press
freedom in
Iran. It was
nukes, nukes,
nukes.
Margaret
Warner of PBS
quoted Rouhani
from the past
about
continuing
to develop in
Isfahan;
Margaret
Brennan of CBS
asked about
opening
facilities up
to "put these
doubts to
rest."
A
reporter from
Al Mayadeen in
Beirut, on the
other hand,
asked about
Iran being
sure to
continue its
support to
"resistance in
the
region," using
Hezbollah as
his example.
Rouhani's
answers
several times
emphasized: Al
Qaeda must
leave Syria.
He also
called the
Taliban's
views on women
outdated. He
said he'd
brought
with him to
New York for
these four
days a
representative
from Shiraz
and one "on
behalf of the
minority
Jewish
community of
Iran."
He said the
tone of
Obama's speech
sounded
different,
that he wanted
the media to
be messengers.
One
wanted to ask:
what about
journalists in
jail? What
about the
Iranian
Journalists
Association?
(Rouhani has
said such
guilds should
be able
to exist - but
what's been
done.)
Inner
City Press ran
back to the UN
to get to the
day's noon
briefing. The
read-out of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
meeting with
Rouhini said
Ban "raised
various human
rights
issues." Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky, what
issues? Press
freedom?
Nesirky
said
Ban noted the
release of
human rights
lawyer Nasrin
Sotoudeh and
urged Rouhani
to continue in
that way.
Apparently
nothing on
press
freedom.
Typical of the
UN. Watch this
site.
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