An Article, Not Yet a Law

Iran’s parliament voted 174 to six on Tuesday to approve an article that would make it a crime for Iranians to give interviews to, or take part in discussions with, media that the Intelligence Ministry designates as hostile, Euronews reported. The provision is Article 22 of a bill on countering the penetration of foreign intelligence services and governments. It is not yet law. The parliament has other articles of the same bill still to examine, and the text then goes to the Guardian Council.

The article reaches two kinds of target. The first is any outlet the Intelligence Ministry designates and declares hostile; the Hana Human Rights Organization, citing state media, said that covers individuals who act as media in their own right, which the bill calls “human media”, as well as outlets. The second is any outlet owned, managed or funded by people connected to countries the bill classes as adversaries, Iran International reported.

A violation carries one or more sixth-degree penalties under the Islamic Penal Code. Euronews listed them as imprisonment of more than six months and up to two years, fines, 31 to 74 lashes, and deprivation of social rights. Government officials are exempt: a proposal by the MP Alireza Salimi to exclude them from the article was approved at the same sitting.

Who draws the list

The bill sorts foreign states into two tiers, according to Euronews. A “level 1” government is one formally designated as hostile under Iranian law or by the Supreme National Security Council. A “level 2” government is one that has planned or carried out actions aimed at damaging Iran’s political, defence, security, economic, social or cultural interests. The level 2 list is to be drawn up by the Intelligence Ministry and the intelligence organisation of the Revolutionary Guards, then approved by the Supreme National Security Council.

That makes the scope of the offence a matter of executive designation rather than of the statute’s text. Hana’s criticism rests on that point: leaving the designation of hostile media to the Intelligence Ministry, it said, “hands sweeping discretion to a security agency”, and simply speaking to an outlet can become grounds for prosecution without any other criminal act.

Possible targets have already been named in public, though not under this bill. On 26 August, the armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi accused BBC Persian, Iran International and Radio Farda of links to American and Israeli intelligence and said their staff could be placed in the Islamic Republic’s “military targets bank”, Euronews reported. Iran International, one of the sources for this article, is one of the three he named.

The cabinet said no

President Masoud Pezeshkian’s cabinet formally opposed the bill. At its meeting of 22 August, according to Euronews, it said the legislation had “serious flaws”, among them restrictions on scientific activity, faster emigration of the educated elite, and negative consequences at home and abroad. The first vice-president, Mohammad Reza Aref, warned of the consequences for science and technology. Majid Ansari, the president’s deputy for legal affairs, said “criminalising broad and general categories in this bill could harm citizens’ rights.”

The parliament passed Article 20 of the bill at the same time. Under it, a person with access to unpublished official information by virtue of their job may not share it with a foreign agent without prior authorisation, on pain of four to 10 years in prison and a permanent bar from the post through which the information was obtained, Euronews reported.

Where it goes next

Once the parliament finishes the bill, the Guardian Council reviews it for compatibility with Islamic law and the constitution. If the council objects and the parliament insists on its text, the Expediency Council makes the final decision, Euronews reported.

The parliament that passed Article 22 was elected on a turnout reported at around 41 per cent, the lowest since the 1979 revolution, according to Euronews, and about 24 per cent in Tehran.

Sources

The vote, the penalties, the two tiers of governments, the Salimi amendment, the cabinet’s position and the statements of Aref and Ansari, Article 20, Shekarchi’s remarks, the legislative sequence and the turnout figures are as Euronews reported them. The “human media” category and the Penal Code reference are from the Hana Human Rights Organization, which cited Iranian state media, and the coverage of outlets linked to adversary countries is from Iran International, which cited state media. The bill’s text was not available to this publication, and quotations from Iranian officials are in the translations those outlets published.