Tasnim News Agency (Tasnim) is a news outlet founded by two IRGC commanders, Majid Gholizadeh and Hamidreza Moghadam Far, who continue to serve as Tasnim executives and exert control over Tasnim on behalf of the IRGC. Tasnim has supported the IRGC and other instruments of the regime in various ways, including suppressing dissent by helping the IRGC, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and LEF to crowdsource the identities of protestors. Majid Gholizadeh, a former IRGC Commander, is Tasnim’s CEO, an important spokesperson for the news agency, and IRGC propagandist. Hamidreza Moghadam Far is the head of the Tasnim board of directors and an IRGC Commander. Hamidreza Moghadam Far has held multiple prominent roles in the IRGC, including as an advisor to IRGC Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami and the Cultural Deputy of the IRGC.
Tasnim is being designated pursuant to E.O 13553 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, the IRGC. Hamidreza Moghadam Far is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC. Majid Gholizadeh is being designated for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Tasnim News Agency.
Fars News Agency is closely affiliated with the IRGC and has provided special intelligence reports to Hossein Salami. Fars News Agency closely coordinated with the Basij Resistance Force (Basij) deputy commander on ongoing Iranian domestic concerns. The Basij, a paramilitary force subordinate to the IRGC, was designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 on June 9, 2011 for its involvement in the violent crackdowns and serious human rights abuses occurring in Iran following the disputed June 2009 presidential election. Fars News Agency was also founded by Hamidreza Moghadam Far, and its board of directors is chaired by Mohammad Mehdi Sayyari Zahan, the U.S.-designated deputy head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization. Payam Tirandaz is the CEO of Fars News Agency, a former member of the Basij, and a former employee of IRIB. Payam Tirandaz plays a pivotal role in Fars News Agency’s support to the IRGC’s malign activities.
On August 16, 2010, OFAC issued the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 561 (75 FR 49836, August 16, 2010) (IFSR) to implement provisions of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111–195) (22 U.S.C. 8501–8551). Since then, OFAC has amended the IFSR several times.
