The Incident: Live footage captures the exact moment IRIB cut off an interview with Chief Negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. The censorship triggered precisely as he attempted to justify Iran's plan to allocate $6 billion in newly released assets toward purchasing American wheat and grain.
The Pattern: This marks the second high-profile live cutoff on Iranian state television in two weeks. It directly mirrors the abrupt suspension of MP Mahmoud Nabavian's broadcast after he alleged that Qalibaf and Araqchi defied Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s explicit directives by signing the MoU.
Editorial Take:** While Nabavian was silenced for exposing high-level insubordination, Qalibaf’s cutoff reveals severe establishment sensitivity regarding the optics of the Washington MoU—specifically using unfrozen funds to purchase agricultural commodities directly from the United States.