TEHRAN – The Italo-Iranian journalist Davood Abbasi has said that he doesn’t believe that information in Iran is filtered more than Western countries.

“It is important to remember that in recent years, the presence of social media has contributed in a serious manner to having better information,” Abbasi told the Italian daily La Sicilia in an extensive interview published on Monday.

“Iran, with over 40 million Internet users, is the first Middle Eastern country in this sense,” he added.

Abbasi who was called by the Italian newspaper “a Persian with a Sicilian heart” criticized some Western media for their attempt to spread misinformation about Iran.

“Unfortunately many of the powerful of our world place their interests in hatred, in the purchase of weapons, in sanctions, in war,” he lamented.

Abbasi who described himself as “the most Sicilian among the Persians, and the most Persian among the Sicilians” said, “In my opinion, in general, there are many points in common between the Christian and the Islamic world.” 

He works for IRIB Italian radio and is also a tour operator.

Photo: Italo-Iranian journalist Davood Abbasi in an undated photo.

MMS