CNN quoted an official statement from Iran – Trump was furious and threatened a criminal investigation

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, is trying to frame the ceasefire agreement as a success in the eyes of the American public, and today (Wednesday) he was furious with CNN for quoting an official statement from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which claimed that Iran had “won”. The president claimed that it was a fake message, and threatened the network with a criminal investigation.

According to the announcement of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which was published on CNN after it was quoted in the country’s state media, Iran “achieved a great victory and forced the United States to accept its 10-point plan.” Further, according to the announcement, the United States agreed in principle to remove all sanctions from Iran, withdraw forces from all American bases in the region, and accept Iran’s right to enrich uranium and its right to control the Strait of Hormuz.

The wording of the Supreme Council’s message was much firmer compared to the message published by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in which he announced the ceasefire, and was echoed by President Trump. The announcement presented Iran as the winner and Trump as the loser, while Trump is trying to establish the ceasefire as an achievement in the US public discourse.

Trump was outraged by the publication on CNN, and published a particularly aggressive post: “CNN published a knowingly false and dangerous statement, as if it came from the upper echelons of the Iranian government. This is not true! It was completely fabricated and published as a headline, perhaps to escalate a very sensitive situation. It was from a problematic site in Nigeria, and CNN was simply caught in a lie.”

The president went further and specifically threatened the network: “The authorities are investigating whether a crime was committed in the publication of CNN’s fake statement.” He added that he had “directed” CNN to immediately retract the statement and issue a full apology. Brandon Carr, Trump’s ally and head of the Federal Communications Commission in the US, also issued an implied threat and wrote that “it’s time for a change at CNN.”

At CNN, one of the largest and most recognized media outlets in the world, they strongly defended their journalistic work. “The statement was received from Iranian officials and was reported in a number of state media in Iran. We received the statement from Iranian spokespeople known to us,” the network’s spokesperson said, and another post added: “We stand behind our press.”

The CNN reporter who published the Supreme Council’s statement explained that he published it after seeing it on Iran’s state media. He added that after Trump publicly objected to the publication, he even contacted the Iranian Foreign Ministry directly, which directly gave him the same statement officially. Other major media outlets, such as the New York Times and PBS, also cited the official statement.