State TV faces internal purge after sectarian slur airs on Iranian broadcast

Iranian state television dismissed several senior staff members and triggered a legal crackdown after a segment insulting Sunni Islamic figures was broadcast, drawing public outrage and prompting official apologies to contain the fallout.

The controversial broadcast aired Wednesday on Channel One and featured a guest reciting verses disparaging Abu Bakr, the first caliph in Sunni Islam, during a midday segment.

The footage was quickly deleted from IRIB-affiliated platforms, as the broadcaster scrambled to contain the crisis.

In a joint statement from Sunni majority Sistan and Baluchestan, the province's governor Mansour Bijar and the Supreme Leader’s regional representative Mostafa Mohami condemned the broadcast, describing it as offensive to the sacred beliefs of the Sunni community and a source of distress and anger across the Muslim world.

Sunnis make up at least 10 percent of Iran's 88 million population, and Sistan and Baluchestan is one of the few Sunni-majority regions in a predominantly Shiite country.

While they welcomed the swift dismissals and referral of those responsible to the judiciary, they urged systemic reforms and punitive measures to prevent recurrence and called on the judiciary to ensure “deterrent accountability and public transparency,” IRNA reported.

The state broadcaster has removed the channel’s programming director and head of production. Additionally, eight individuals involved in the show’s creation now face criminal charges, as reported by state media.

A special committee comprising representatives from IRIB’s security, legal, and inspection branches has been tasked with investigating the incident further.

“Sowing discord in the Islamic community has no defenders among true Muslims, whether Shia or Sunni,” IRIB chief Peyman Jebeli said. “The error of extremist ignorants is unforgivable."

The network also aired a string of unity-themed documentaries on Wednesday featuring Sunni figures, a move seen as an effort to contain the backlash and reaffirm the state’s emphasis on intra-Muslim unity amid sensitive diplomatic engagement with Sunni-led Saudi Arabia as Shia majority Iran tries to cultivate closer ties to its Sunni neighbors.

This is not the first time IRIB has drawn criticism over sectarian or politically provocative content. Last week, Nasim TV apologized for airing a satirical segment mocking Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister just days after a rare visit by the kingdom’s defense chief to Tehran.

In 2019, IRIB announced the dismissal of the director and broadcast manager of Channel Five following the unvetted airing of controversial remarks by a eulogist during a religious program.

The decision came at the directive of then-IRIB chief Abdolali Ali-Asgari, who said that “safeguarding the dignity of the Islamic ummah” remained a core principle of the broadcaster under the leadership of the Supreme Leader.

Among those dismissed was Javad Ramazannejad, who had been appointed to lead Channel Five less than a year prior to the incident.

With a budget now larger than that of ten ministries and a steadily eroding domestic audience—polls show viewership plummeting from 57% to just 11%—Iran’s state broadcaster faces intensifying scrutiny over its legitimacy, oversight, and role in shaping national identity.

Sunnis, though legal in Iran as a branch of Islam, are among the country's religious minorities which rights groups say are routinely oppressed.

Last year, Human Rights Watch reported that Iranian law denies freedom of religion to minorities such as Baha’is and discriminates against them.

"The government also discriminates against other religious minorities, including Sunni Muslims, and restricts cultural and political activities among the country’s Azeri, Kurdish, Arab, and Baluch ethnic minorities," the report added.