SAEDNEWS: The President’s interview was aired. Mr. Pezeshkian is intelligent and confident, though his answers could have been shorter and more specific. Still, he made important points.
According to the politics service of Saeed News analytical news outlet, political activist Abtahi, while providing details about the interview with the President, thanked the President’s office and the IRIB organization for creating the opportunity for well-known media figures of the country to have a conversation with the President himself.
The President’s televised conversation with three media figures of the country was broadcast last night (Friday, the 7th of Shahrivar) coinciding with Government Week on IRIB. In this special television interview, Masoud Pezeshkian, the head of the fourteenth government, sat down with Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Abdollah Ganji, and Alireza Moezi for a detailed discussion about the most important current issues and the government’s one-year performance.
Seyyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi, by publishing a note, provided a report of the details of the interview with the President. The text of this note is as follows:
**"The interview with the President was aired. I hope you enjoyed our questions — Mr. Moezi, the head of Khabaronline, and Mr. Ganji, advisor to Mr. Zakani and former head of Javan newspaper — and the President’s answers. Mr. Pezeshkian is a very intelligent and commanding man, but I wish he had answered the questions more specifically and given shorter responses. Nevertheless, he made important and good points.
Honestly, until the moment of the interview, nobody except myself knew what I was going to ask, and no one saw or coordinated the questions. A day or two before, Mr. Tabatabai, deputy of media affairs in the President’s office, called and said we want to have a different interview for Government Week. I was one of the guests. He also mentioned the names of the other two. We discussed a bit that this interview lacked two types of people: a female analyst/activist and an economic expert.
We suggested a few experienced women, but they were not accepted. Regarding livelihood issues, they said there would be another interview. On Thursday, the recording was at the Summit Hall. I don’t know why they hadn’t taken my phone. I was taking lots of pictures of the session when the head of the team came and took it. Before that, Mr. Ganji jokingly said, why haven’t they taken your phone? I, as a witty cleric, replied: maybe for you guys they have to be stricter. We laughed.
When Mr. Pezeshkian came, he listened very well to the staff. They took him to makeup. They said he should come from backstage onto the stage and shake hands with us. He came. We all had microphones, and their wires got pulled, it became messy. Since the Khatami government, whenever I saw the doctor, I would greet him in Turkish: ‘Ahalumuz yakhchidi’ (Are we well?). I said it again yesterday.
In the middle of the interview, Yousef, Pezeshkian’s son, when the camera wasn’t on the doctor, came and whispered something into the President’s ear and left. With my eyes and eyebrows, I asked what it was. The doctor loudly said: ‘He says you didn’t place your legs according to protocol.’ This part was edited out. All the communications staff were present. It was a nice touch. Mehdi and Shahab Tabatabai and Mobin and the TV crew worked very hard. We also talked a little about his meeting with Mr. Khatami. He said there had been a danger but they had managed to deal with it quickly.
Diversity in advertising and media is very important. Personally, I thank the President’s office and IRIB."
