Manama: Kuwait's journalists' association is demanding an apology from the outgoing Iranian ambassador for allegedly claiming that some local columnists were pro-Zionists.
"We do not accept Zionist labels against Kuwaiti journalists, no matter who the person who makes them is," Faisal Al Qannai, the association secretary general, said. "We reject the reference by Ali Jannati, the Iranian ambassador to Kuwait, to some Kuwaiti journalists as Zionists. The use of such terms by the ambassador, a man who should know how to choose his words carefully, is unacceptable. He has been long enough among us and had supposedly followed the Kuwaiti press closely, so he should be aware of the high levels of press freedom in Kuwait," he said, quoted by Al Aan.
Jannati should respect all views and opinions expressed by journalists and editorialists, especially that the Kuwaiti press was open to all comments, he said.
The Iranian envoy waded into the controversy when at his last press conference in the country he accused some of the local journalists of receiving money to attack Iran and defend Israel.
"They are journalists for hire and promote Zionists," Jannati allegedly said, stressing that the Israeli government often praised them and that their views were always given prominence on the Israeli foreign ministry website.
"Kuwait's democracy and press freedom are not found in other countries… However, there are some fabricated news about the Islamic Republic of Iran and some of the opinion pieces are by journalists paid to write against Iran. Anti-Iran news are concocted and journalists do not even try to check their veracity or accuracy," he said, quoted by Kuwaiti media.
However, no names or references were given by the ambassador at the farewell lunch he hosted for journalists in Kuwait.
Jannati, 61, said that he used to respond to "fabricated" news and opinion pieces targeting Iran, but eventually stopped. "If the embassy today wanted to react to all these false news, it would have to issue four or five statements every day," he said.
