IRNA

About IRNA

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA; Persian: خبرگزاری جمهوری اسلامی) is the official news agency of Iran, government-funded and controlled under the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Founded on 13 November 1934 as Pars News Agency during the reign of Reza Shah, it is one of the oldest news agencies in Asia. It operates some 60 offices in Iran and 30 more in countries around the world, including a bureau in New Delhi that files stories under "New Delhi, IRNA" datelines. IRNA publishes in approximately ten languages and also publishes the daily newspaper Iran. Its official website is irna.ir (English edition at en.irna.ir).

Founding as Pars News Agency

In 1934, Pars Agency was established by the Foreign Ministry of Iran (then Persia) as the country's official national news outlet. For its first six years it operated under the Iranian Foreign Ministry, working to disseminate national and international news. Pars Agency published a bulletin twice daily, in French and Persian, which it circulated among government officials, international news agencies in Tehran and the local press. In May 1940, the General Tablighat Department was founded and the agency became an affiliate of that department.

Agence France-Presse was the first international news agency whose reports Pars Agency used. Gradually the Iranian agency expanded its sources to include Reuters, the Associated Press and United Press International. An agreement with Turkey's Anatolia News Agency further expanded its news outlets worldwide, and the link-up also enabled Pars to provide classified bulletins to a limited number of high-ranking public officials. The early history thus combined public news dissemination with a confidential briefing function for the state.

The Islamic Revolution and renaming

Following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the agency was restructured and in 1981 assumed its current institutional identity as the Islamic Republic News Agency. The name change from Pars News Agency (1934–1981) to IRNA marked the agency's reconstitution as the official voice of the new Islamic Republic. The agency has been classified by the State Media Monitor as State-Controlled (SC) consistently across its 2022–2026 typology cycles, reflecting its state ownership, ministerial supervision, the absence of an editorial firewall, and the lack of audited financial disclosure.

Under the Islamic Republic, IRNA became the principal instrument through which the Iranian state communicates its positions to domestic and international audiences. It follows the line of the government, and its coverage of Iranian politics, diplomacy and regional affairs reflects official policy.

Ownership, leadership and structure

IRNA is owned by the Iranian government and supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The agency's managing director is appointed by the government; in September 2024 Hossein Jaberi-Ansari took over the role from Ali Naderi, a leadership transition associated with that year's change of government in Iran. IRNA is institutionally linked to the Iran Cultural and Press Institute, whose portfolio includes the daily newspaper Iran (in Persian), Iran Daily (in English), Al-Vefagh (in Arabic), Iran Varzeshi (a sports paper) and Iran Sepid (a Braille edition).

The agency's headquarters are in Tehran. Its network of 60 domestic offices gives it correspondents in every Iranian province, while its 30 foreign offices place reporters in capitals across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas. IRNA is a member of international news-agency groupings and maintains news-exchange agreements with counterpart agencies.

Multilingual services

IRNA operates as a multilingual news platform, publishing in approximately ten languages. Its services have been reported in Farsi, English, Arabic, Turkish, French, Spanish, Russian and Urdu. The English service, carried on en.irna.ir, is the agency's main window on international audiences, while the Arabic, Turkish and Urdu services address regional readerships in the Middle East and South Asia. The agency also operates photo, video and infographics desks, and its output is distributed through its websites, mobile platforms and social media channels.

The breadth of languages reflects IRNA's role as an instrument of Iranian public diplomacy: the agency's reporting on Iran's nuclear programme, its regional relationships, and its positions on conflicts in the Middle East is produced simultaneously for domestic and multiple foreign audiences, each in their own language.

The New Delhi bureau and India coverage

IRNA maintains a bureau in New Delhi, listed at C-759, New Friends Colony, from which it files stories under "New Delhi, IRNA" datelines. The bureau covers Indian politics, the economy, and above all the India-Iran bilateral relationship — a relationship centred on energy trade, the Chabahar port project, connectivity corridors, and shared positions on regional security.

IRNA's India coverage has included reporting on Iranian-Indian oil trade, the development of the Chabahar port as a transit route to Central Asia, high-level bilateral visits, and cultural exchanges between the two countries. The bureau also covers South Asian developments of interest to Tehran, including India's relations with Pakistan and Afghanistan. As one of the few Middle Eastern state wires with a permanent New Delhi presence, IRNA's India output is a regular source of the Iranian official perspective on South Asian affairs.

IRNA in the Iranian media landscape

IRNA is the oldest and most authoritative of Iran's news agencies, but it operates alongside a crowded field of competitors. Fars News Agency, founded in 2003, is a semi-official agency considered close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Tasnim, founded in 2012, is similarly aligned. Mehr News Agency, launched in 2003, is owned by the Islamic Propagation Organisation, as is the English-language Tehran Times. The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), established in 1999 and run by university students, is considered more independent and moderate than IRNA, while the Islamic Labour News Agency (ILNA), founded in 2003, belongs to the Workers' House labour union and is considered close to the reform movement.

Within this landscape IRNA's distinguishing feature is its official status: it is the agency of record for government announcements, presidential statements, and the positions of Iran's foreign ministry. Its stories are routinely cited by international media as the official Iranian account of events, even as those media treat its editorial line with the caution appropriate to a state-controlled outlet.

International profile and criticism

As the official agency of a state under extensive international sanctions, IRNA operates in a contested media environment. Western governments and researchers have described it as an instrument of Iranian state messaging, and its coverage of subjects such as Iran's nuclear programme, protests inside Iran, and regional conflicts is routinely contrasted with reporting by independent outlets. The agency rejects such characterisations and presents itself as a professional news organisation serving the public interest.

IRNA has also been a participant in international media cooperation, including news-exchange agreements with counterpart agencies in Asia and beyond. In 2025, Iranian media entities including IRIB and Press TV signed cooperation agreements with Russian media, and IRNA has historically maintained exchange relationships with agencies such as Turkey's Anadolu. These agreements give IRNA's copy distribution channels beyond its own platforms.

Current status

As of 2026, IRNA remains active as Iran's official news agency, operating its domestic and foreign bureaus — including New Delhi — its multilingual wires, and its newspaper publishing arm. Under managing director Hossein Jaberi-Ansari, the agency continues to function as the Iranian government's primary newswire, filing around the clock in Persian and its foreign-language services. For directory purposes, it is classified as Iran's state-owned international newswire with an established India editorial presence at its New Friends Colony bureau in the Indian capital.