Iran: CNN falsified Rohani's Holocaust comments
Day after Rohani gives interview to CNN's Amanpour, claims Holocaust 'reprehensible, condemnable', official Iranian news agency claims network intentionally 'mistranslated' Rohani. Amanpour 'knows Farsi better than me' FARS editor said
However, a number of hours later, the official Iranian news agency FARS claimed that the Iranian president's quotes were mistranslated. The agency claimed that Rohani never said that there was a Jewish Holocaust.
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On Thursday, the Iranian took things one step further and claimed the 'mistranslation' was intentional, citing Amanpour's understanding of Farsi as proof.
Rohani told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that "I am not a historian, and that when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the Holocaust it is the historians that should reflect on it. But in general I can tell you that any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime the Nazis committed towards the Jews, as well as non-Jewish people, was reprehensible and condemnable as far as we are concerned."
FARS claims that no such things were said and that Amanpour should know as much, because she grew up in Teheran and speaks very good Farsi. The news agency went on to blame CNN for publishing misleading subtitles for sentences which were never said about the Holocaust in the edited version of the interview.
A source within CNN was quoted as saying that the interview's translator was chosen by the Iranian and that CNN only dubbed in his translation. Nonetheless, FARS claimed that does not "dissolve the network's culpability in presenting false information to the public."
Iran further slammed CNN and said that it expected that such a professional network and such a distinguished journalist to do a better and more accurate job instead of cherry-picking out certain parts and editing them in a biased manner. It further demanded a retraction and appology.
According to FARS in unaired parts of the interview Amanpour can be seen speaking Farsi freely and even translating parts of Rohani's comments into English for the audience.
Head of FARS's political desk testified in favor of Amanpour's Farsi. He said she speaks Farsi and "she knows the language better than me."
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