Iran media pressure set to rise as elections near

Most Iranians still rely on the state-run IRIB television for their news. The past year has seen IRIB's head stepping down prematurely and a number of the changes he introduced being revoked.

Very large numbers of Iranians also watch foreign satellite channels, despite it being illegal to do so - but their audience is mainly for entertainment rather than news.

As BBC Monitoring's Iran Media Guide for 2016 explains, hardline media outlets have intensified their pressure on President Hassan Rouhani's administration, and such criticism is expected to rise ahead of the May 2017 presidential elections.

Although newspaper circulations are generally low, the press provides an insight into the country's competing political factions.

Researched and written by BBCM's Iran experts, the Iran Media Guide is a major (37,000-word) reference work providing detailed reviews of the broadcasting, press and online sectors, along with very extensive listings of individual broadcast channels, publications and online sources.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/monitoring/iran-media-pressure-on-president-rises-as-elections-nears