Members of the supreme leader’s clan control major institutions while also acting as their regulators, a Doublethink investigation has shown.
Their control spans major media outlets including Hamshahri, Iran, and Jam-e Jam newspapers, the English-language Tehran Times as well as Mehr News Agency.
Khamenei family members also hold leadership positions in Avini Cultural and Artistic Institute and Farabi Cinematic Institute. Both of these institutions are active in film production.
Khamenei Family Role in Media, by Name of Relative
At the same time, members of the clan hold top political positions at two regulatory institutions responsible for media oversight and censorship. The Clean Cyberspace Development Association is responsible for internet censorship, while the Khorasan Press House oversees book publishing.
The Khamenei clan also controls the commercial book market via major publishing houses including Souroush, Hermes and Daftar-e Nashr. This dominance of regulatory bodies as well as publishers effectively gives the Khameneis a monopoly in publishing.
Khamenei Family Role in Media, by Industry Type
Editors’s note: This post was updated Nov. 1, 2019 to reflect new research findings.
