New President for IRIB-Iran

Mohammad Sarafraz has been officially inaugurated as the new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

He was directly appointed through a decree by the Leader last week.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Sarafraz underlined the need for promoting the quality of IRIB productions, noting, “We are obliged to gather the elite at the IRIB and benefit from their guidance in every matter.”

Before assuming the top job, Sarafraz was the IRIB Vice President and head of the IRIB’s World Service for two decades during which several foreign-language satellite channels, including Press TV, Al-Alam and Hispan TV were launched.

The English-language Press TV and Arabic-language Al-Alam channels as well as Hispan TV, which airs programs in Spanish, are alternative media outlets which have played a key role amongst the media stake holders.

iFilm was another satellite channel which went on air during Sarafraz’s tenure as the head of the IRIB’s World Service. It broadcasts Iranian soap operas, TV series and feature films dubbed into both English and Arabic.