I wish we could do this.

For all the years of bad reporting and slanted articles.
Funny stuff.

S


Iran Bans CNN for Misquoting Leader on Nuclear Issue (Update2)
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Iran banned Time Warner Inc.'s CNN International from the country after the U.S. network misquoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a Jan. 14 news conference, the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry said.

Cable News Network will be banned ``until further consideration,'' the ministry said in a statement read out over the telephone. CNN employs one freelance reporter in Tehran and CNN journalists from the U.S., including Iranian-born Christiane Amanpour, regularly visit Iran, the ministry said.

Because of a translation error, CNN incorrectly quoted Ahmadinejad as saying Iran had a right to build nuclear weapons, when he actually said the country has the right to nuclear power and doesn't need atomic weapons, the network said today in an e- mailed statement. CNN apologized for the error and said it is ``very disappointed'' by the ban.

Germany, France and the U.K. on Jan. 12 called for the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency to hold an emergency meeting to vote on Iran's referral to the UN Security Council following the country's decision to resume research on the nuclear fuel cycle. The U.S. endorsed the call.

Iran has faced UN action since September, when the IAEA found the Islamic republic in ``non-compliance'' with its nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations. The agency cited the ``absence of confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes,'' according to a resolution passed at the time.

`Error in Translation'

``Due to an error in translation, CNN incorrectly quoted Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in his speech given on Saturday, as saying that Iran has the right to build nuclear weapons,'' the network said in today's statement. ``In fact, President Amadinejad said Iran has the right to nuclear energy, and that `a nation that has civilization does not need nuclear weapons,' and `our nation does not need them.'

``CNN apologized on all its platforms which included the translation error, including CNN International, CNNUSA and CNN.com, and also expressed its regrets to the Iranian Government and the Iranian ambassador to the UN,'' the network said.



To contact the reporter on this story:
Marc Wolfensberger in Tehran at mwolfens@bloomberg.