WASHINGTON: The State Department is suspending funding for a taxpayer-funded Twitter account on Iran that sharply attacked critics of President Donald Trump’s hawkish policy, an official said Saturday.
The Iran Disinformation Project was set up late last year with a stated mission to expose the “nefarious influence” of the clerical regime in Tehran, including by tackling its “social media manipulation.”
The account, in English, Farsi and occasionally Arabic, is funded by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which is in charge of countering foreign propaganda.
To its modest number of Twitter followers, which stood at just over 2,700 on Saturday, @IranDisinfo offers a narrative in line with the Trump administration, highlighting human rights concerns in Iran, attacking its leaders across the spectrum and using the hashtag #40YearsOfFailure to describe the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the pro-US shah.
But some of the many US-based critics of the Trump administration’s hard line on Iran, who fear his policies could lead to war, voiced alarm at also being attacked by the account, which at times suggested they were stooges for the regime.
A State Department official said that while “the bulk” of @IranDisinfo’s work was acceptable, the Department “identified recent tweets that fall outside the scope of the project to counter foreign state propaganda or disinformation.”
On Friday, “the Department suspended the funding for the Iran Disinfo project until the implementer takes necessary steps to ensure that any future activity remains within the agreed scope of work,” he said.
Negar Mortazavi, a prominent Twitter commentator on Iran who is based in Washington, highlighted the irony that she cannot return to Iran because she has worked for US-funded Voice of America.
“@IranDisinfo uses my own tax money to attack and smear me and call me ‘Devil’s Advocate,’” she tweeted.
The account also attacked Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post journalist who was detained for a year and a half in Iran.
@IranDisInfo assailed him for using his column in the newspaper to criticize Trump’s ban on visas for Iranians and citizens of several other Muslim-majority countries, saying the former prisoners was ignoring abuses by Tehran.
US suspends funding for Iran Twitter account that trolled critics
US suspends funding for Iran Twitter account that trolled critics
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
