CNN has been trying for days to defend the fact that the authoritarians in Iran - those who remain, at least - granted them permission to be the lone network allowed into the country, declaring that it was a case of journalism excellence. That most people saw this as the outlet being used as a propaganda puppet was inevitable, but still they squealed, posturing as the offended party.
Then they promptly continued with the same behavior. Milquetoast dispatches from its correspondent Frederick Pleitgen followed, with him filing recorded segments from the streets, but no live reporting. This was followed by a whiffle-ball interview Plietgen staged with one Iranian government figure (we’ll just sidestep the 35,000 civilian assassinations, thank you). Then CNN went beyond that, as it actually turned over its U.S. broadcast to Iranian state-run TV for four full minutes. We'll leave it to readers to make up their minds on just how compromised this makes the alleged news outlet.
Now it has been revealed that, ahead of this arrangement, some CNN figures in London were discovered partying it up with Iranian officials. Before CNN’s entry into Tehran, at a function held at the Iranian embassy, a CNN bureau chief and a correspondent were captured mingling with authorities. More on this in a minute.
This has been a week for the ages over at CNN. Numerous retractions had to be issued over its fractured coverage of last weekend’s bombing attempt in Manhattan; it continues to deliver propaganda-level coverage of Operation Epic Fury, and Friday saw them scrambling over a flawed report on our military not being prepared for a basic tactic enforced by Iran for decades.
As a sign of how badly this has become, Brian Stelter, attempting to perform cleanup duty for his network, has been hung out to dry not once, but twice within days. First, he called a report about the would-be bombers “solid,” followed by editors removing the language that was also used in a social media post that had to be memory-holed. Then, on Friday, he defended CNN’s Strait of Hormuz claims, saying the network stands by its reporting… only to see that reporting getting corrected on two occasions.
Stelter showed us what it looks like when you attempt a cleanup with only a mop but no bucket of soap, managing to spread the stain. And now, an entirely new mess has been spilled out, one that might require a ServPro team to be called in.
Over at Newsbusters, Nick Fondacaro found a story in The Telegraph that exposed how some UK political officials attended a celebration at the Iranian embassy, complete with comments made by the hosts about how their leadership has thrived, despite the rude meddling by those of us in the West. That report contained a notable detail.
While The Telegraph never did assert that CNN had employees in attendance, one photograph showed CNN London bureau chief Andrew Roy and CNN chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance at the party, shaking hands with Iran’s ambassador. The network told Fondacaro they were at the function performing “normal work” in covering government officials. To date, they have yet to show their work. Says Fondacaro:
As of the publication of this piece (March 13, 2026), Chance had not filed any report about it. According to his profile page on the CNN website, the only things he reported on in February were about Ukraine and Russia. A SnapStream search of on-air reports from Matthew Chance confirmed this. Neither Roy nor Chance had even posted on X about attending the regime party.
Making this all the more interesting, after Newsbusters exposed this meeting, The Telegraph has taken down that photo with the pair of CNN employees. The remaining photos in that article are courtesy of Iran Press News Agency, so taking down the one picture seems more than curious. There seems to be a strong desire to be distanced from this Iranian "celebration," as it was held in the middle of February, at a time when that country's leadership was in the process of killing tens of thousands of protesters. Not a good look to be glad-handing at a black-tie cocktail event with the very people exterminating its gentry.
We can speculate if this means CNN reached out and requested that The Telegraph yank that photo, but this tracks with the fractured behavior seen from the network over the past week. This is a news source that has degraded itself significantly within the span of days, so it is not off-brand to consider that they might be compelling another news outlet to spike an image, done in order to hide what may be an incriminating event.
Allegedly.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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