Bureau chief Parisa Hafezi gets wider-ranging role

Award-winning Reuters journalist Parisa Hafezi (photo),​ bureau chief in Ankara, has been promoted to a new job that will allow her to range across the Middle East. She is appointed to the new post of senior enterprise correspondent in the region.

“In her new role, Parisa will focus on initiative stories in one of the most news-intensive and volatile regions of the world, the Middle East,” managing editor Paul Ingrassia said in an announcement to editorial staff. He cited one recent example of her work as a special report she did jointly with United Nations bureau chief Lou Charbonneau about secret initiatives aimed at restarting dialogue between the United States and Iran. “We can expect more Special Reports from Parisa in her new role, but her work will not be limited do those,” Ingrassia said. 

Hafezi, pictured, joined Reuters as a part-time stringer in Tehran in 2000, became a staff correspondent in 2003, deputy bureau chief in 2007 and bureau chief in 2009. The International Women’s Media Foundation honoured her with a Courage in Journalism Award in 2011.

“She displayed this courage amply in the events that led to the recent closing of our bureau in Tehran, where actions by the government unfortunately left us little choice,” Ingrassia said. 

Work in the bureau was suspended more than a year ago over a video report that portrayed female martial arts students as assassins. Last September a special media court found Reuters guilty of “propaganda against the regime” and “publishing false information in an effort to disturb public opinion”. Editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said the mistake was not malicious.

Iranian authorities gave Reuters permission to re-open its Tehran bureau in May. ■