Such an extensive attack on an individual like Aydin Aghdashloo, if it were relating to someone in the country of Ms. Fassihi\u2019s residence in the United States, would likely take months, and with strong fact-checking requirements. However, this article was produced in a matter of weeks, by a journalist with no access to the country in question, and the weakness and anonymity of her sources were justified by Mr. Aghdashloo\u2019s non-existent ties to the regime. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Aghdashloo provided pages of context to her questions related to this article, never once shying away from the issue. But the refusal to investigate and report this issue with the nuance and accuracy it necessitated has turned an attempt to focus on an important issue into a dangerous attack and hit-job on a family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Inherited Story of Misinformation<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Per her own comments on the story, Farnaz Fassihi has confirmed that she learned of some of the supposed allegations against Mr. Aghdashloo from a social media post from Afshin Parvaresh, who is a known conspiracy theorist and has accused dozens of cultural figures of a myriad of baseless claims. The attacks from Parvaresh have been relentless towards Mr. Aghdashloo and have been persistent for more than five years. These attacks have not only be targeted to Mr. Aghdashloo, but many others in the Iranian arts scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After reading his post, Farnaz Fassihi admits that she retweeted the defaming information. Immediately after the sharing of Pavaresh\u2019s post, the Aghdashloo family reached out to Farnaz Fassihi to correct the misstatements and inform her of Pavaresh\u2019s documented history as a conspiracy theorist. It was at this time that Farnaz Fassihi began to double down on her story and realized a need to preserve her credibility by proving the tweet she shared from Pavaresh was not an error in her journalistic decision making. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As such, Faranaz Fassihi primilary built her stories on the lies and allegations of man who have been charged with defamation four times and has been accused of rape.<\/strong> Not coincidentally, in her resulting story Farnaz Fassihi mirrors the same language used in Pavaresh\u2019s post and he served as a source of connection to the alleged victims. There is no story without Parvaresh and there is no truth in his lies, despite Farnaz Fassihi\u2019s attempt to give them credence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An Illusion of Power<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As outlined above in the section \u201cAbout the Allegations,\u201d none of the accusations amount to rape or assault. However, to paint the picture that Mr. Aghdashloo is a predator with unlimited ability to attack as he desired, Farnaz Fassihi purposely fabricated a level of power that Mr. Aghdashloo never held. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Her claims that he is protected by the government are false at best, or at worse, serve the motives of the government that has continuously attacked him. Mr. Aghdashloo has been repeatedly interrogated by the regime. In state-controlled newspapers, he has been maligned and criticized. In fact, the government successfully sued<\/a> a news organization for making positive comments about him and his daughter <\/a>is currently exiled from Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating this illusion of non-existent power fed Farnaz Fassihi\u2019s self-serving narrative about Mr. Aghdashloo. <\/strong>While the lure of being the reporter \u201cwho broke the #MeToo movement story in Iran\u201d is certainly a compelling motive, it should have never overshadowed her journalistic integrity or responsibility to the countless women who have made their voices heard in the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Driving Fear Through Extreme Exaggeration<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To further elevate the importance of her reporting, Farnaz Fassihi drew in the spektor of Harvey Weinstein. In her article, she claims that 19 people described Mr. Aghdashloo as the \u201cHarvey Weinstein of Iran.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Farnaz Fassihi would have readers believe that 19 people made this remark, unprompted or encouraged. Given that Mr. Aghdashloo has never been arrested nor accused of rape, it is highly unlikely he was independently described 19 times as an Iranian Weinstein. However, by invoking the image of a proven and convicted rapist, Farnaz Fassihi sought to manipulate readers and amplify her own importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Construction of a Defaming Article Based on Falsehoods<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the less than professional way that facts and sources were handled in The New York Times<\/em> article, Farnaz Fassihi wrote the article in such a way as to obscure the flimsiness of the reporting while manipulating the reader into thinking the worst of Mr. Aghdashloo.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/aydinaghdashloofacts.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2021\/01\/FF-2-1.jpg\")
Photo sourced from PBS.org<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n