A recent episode of the Power & Politics program on CBC News saw host David Cochrane interview Mona Ghassemi, head of the Iranian Canadian Congress, for her opinions on events in Iran.
Click below to watch the segment:
In the interview, Ghassemi downplayed the nationwide protests against the regime, labelling them “riots,” and relied on a report from a lone Israeli commentator in claiming that “Mossad is also involved” in Iran. No credible reports have found any Mossad role in arming Iranian protesters, and scholars of Iranian affairs have dismissed such claims.
She blamed the failing Iranian economy purely on foreign sanctions, with no acknowledgement of the incompetence of the Iranian regime, nor of the fortune it has spent on waging war against Israel via terrorist proxies.
In sharp contrast to Ghassemi downplaying the protests as “riots,” in actuality they were nationwide demonstrations with huge attendance, despite mass killings.
And despite Ghassemi being framed simply as a commentator and observer, there was little to distinguish her comments from Islamic Republic propaganda. Negar Mojtahedi, a correspondent for the anti-regime Iran International news outlet, took to social media to accuse Ghassemi of “repeating talking points that amount to regime apologism.”
Moreover, Mojtahedi noted that the Iranian Canadian Congress “does not represent the vast majority of Iranian Canadians.” In Canada, enormous anti-regime rallies also took place, with large members of the Iranian diaspora calling for the removal of the Islamic Republic.
While the Iranian Canadian Congress, founded in 2007, states that it exists “to represent the interests of Iranian Canadians,” it appears that its public statements appear closely aligned with the Islamic Republic’s rhetoric.
Many of the group’s press releases target and condemn Israel, a notable departure from the regular pro-Israel views espoused by Iranian dissidents in Canada. In June, 2025, after Israel struck the regime’s nuclear sites, the group signed an open letter condemning the “unprovoked aggression” against the Islamic Republic, joining extremist groups like the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Toronto4Palestine and Just Peace Advocates.
Click below to view the images:
Over the course of the 12 day war, the group repeatedly condemned Israel, rather than the Islamic Republic’s theocracy, and co-hosted a webinar with a roster of anti-Israel extremists, including Yves Engler, Dimitri Lascaris, and others.
Click below to view the images:
The group has also called for the federal government to re-establish diplomatic ties with Iran, condemned Ottawa’s designation of the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, and has called for the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran, closely mimicking Iranian regime talking points.
Click below to view the images:
Ironically, despite Ghassemi telling Cochrane that “we don’t believe in foreign interference one way or another,” she offered no condemnation of Iran’s widespread interference in Canadian affairs, including alleged targeting of dissidents.
However, at no point during the interview was Ghassemi ever challenged for her statements by Cochrane, who also failed to point out the remarkable similarities between the Iranian Canadian Congress’ rhetoric and the Islamic Republic. In light of these serious journalistic failures, HonestReporting Canada filed a complaint with CBC News arguing that this interview stood in violation of the CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices.
Importantly, on the January 21 broadcast of CBC Power and Politics, anchor David Cochrane hosted a subsequent interview with University of Toronto professor Arsalan Kahnemuyipour, who dismissed Ghassemi’s claims of Mossad involvement, calling them “obviously offensive” to Iranians, and pointed out that her organization represents some “0.5 percent of the Iranian Canadian community population.”
Click below to watch the segment:
To his credit, Cochrane took full responsibility, saying that “I expected an interview on that day, much like the one we are having here, talking about the regime cruelty, and support for the protesters, and that’s not what we delivered,” adding that “we fell short as a team and I’m sorry about that and I fell short as a host cause I’m ultimately responsible for what happened… So I do want to apologize to you for that because I know this is a source of great consternation and some hurt and that was not our intention and I’m sorry that happened and I’m glad you’re here to sort of speak about it.”
While Cochrane laudably took responsibility for the previous interview, and gave a platform to Kahnemuyipour to set the record straight, it exposed a pattern at CBC of platforming fringe voices, and falsely presenting them as being mainstream.
In fact, a recent study by HR Canada Charitable Organization found that CBC News’ domestic coverage of the Hamas-Israel war “repeatedly elevated visibility of anti-Zionist Jewish organizations that represent a minority of the Jewish community granting them disproportionate coverage and implicit authority.”
While it’s a positive that David Cochrane issued a formal on-air apology for platforming and giving a soft interview to a representative repeating Iranian regime talking points, the CBC’s failure to take responsibility for and to work to address its systemic anti-Israel bias is deeply concerning.
