Shargh apologizes to the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic

Shargh newspaper published a statement on its website apologizing to Ayatollah Khamenei's office and its audience for the unintended consequences of the report "Zarif's Diplomacy: From Rumor to Reality."

The statement reads: "Shargh newspaper published a report in its latest issue titled "Zarif's Diplomacy: From Rumor to Reality," which led to reactions and perceptions at the level of public opinion, the media, and some of the country's official institutions. This report was prepared and published with the aim of analyzing the atmosphere of public opinion and reflecting some of the popular demands regarding the reappearance of Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif in the field of diplomacy.

In its recent issue, Shargh newspaper published a report titled "Delicate Diplomacy: From Rumor to Reality," which led to reactions and perceptions at the level of public opinion, the media, and some of the country's official institutions. This report was prepared and published with the aim of analyzing the atmosphere of public opinion and reflecting some of the popular demands regarding the reappearance of Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif in the field of diplomacy.

A part of the report referred to an unofficial and rumor-based statement that Dr. Zarif may have been selected as a member of the direct negotiating team with the United States. This proposition was mentioned only in the analytical context and with the aim of examining the media dimensions and social reactions to such a hypothesis, and immediately in the same text, its denial and rejection by the newspaper was emphasized.

However, we acknowledge that the use of such a phrase, without relying on an official and reliable source, even in the context of analysis and to refute it, has led to a misunderstanding of the main intention of the report and has led to misinterpretations, the publication of incorrect perceptions, and even abuses by some media and currents.

While emphasizing its clear position that such a claim is incorrect and baseless, Shargh newspaper accepts its media responsibility in this regard and explicitly declares that entering such a sensitive field without sufficient reliance on reliable sources was a professional mistake that does not conform to the newspaper's usual standards.

We consider it our duty to sincerely apologize to the Office of the Supreme Leader and the dear audience for the publication of this part of the report and its unintended consequences.

Throughout its years of activity, Shargh has tried to move within the framework of professional journalistic principles, national interests, and the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has always been fully aware and committed to the sensitivity of issues related to foreign policy, the role of the country's supreme institutions, and the leadership of the regime. However, we acknowledge that in this particular case, we could have acted more carefully and subtly so as not to pave the way for such perceptions.

In the end, we emphasize that Shargh newspaper had no intention of inducing false news or confirming the aforementioned rumor, and incidentally, the main purpose of writing the report was to examine the social dimensions of such a rumor and ultimately to reject and deny it. However, since such an unintended goal has led to perceptions contrary to the original intention, we accept responsibility for it and sincerely apologize to everyone.