Azerbaijan reveals new details about activities of pro-Iranian media Special investigation underway

According to Lent.az, InterAz TV channel was established in 2002 and registered in the inter-district inspectorate of the Russian Federal Tax Service in 2007. The founder of the channel, headquartered in Moscow, was well-known journalist Saleh Khudiyev. In 2016, the channel was acquired by Metleb Bagirov, known as Haji Metleb, who had received his religious education in the Iranian city of Qom and Syria.

The channel's headquarters have now been moved to Türkiye and broadcasting is carried out via the Türksat satellite. The channel frequently broadcasts statements by Iranian officials and information that serves Iran's interests. The channel used to widely promote Haji Zulfugar Mikayilzadeh, Haji Taleh Bagirzadeh, who is currently imprisoned under the "Nardaran events" case, and other religious figures close to Iran. The owner of the channel, Metleb Bagirov, hails from Jalilabad district. He reportedly has business properties in Iran, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

SalamNews news agency started operating on March 1, 2010. The founder of the news agency is Haji Metleb Bagirov, owner of the TV channel InterAz. The agency's Baku office is located at the same address as the InterAz TV channel's Baku office, in the Yasamal district.

A Farsi version of SalamNews was developed in 2017, but this project was subsequently cancelled for unknown reasons. At present, the website operates in Azerbaijani and Russian. SalamNews used to carry out extensive pro-Iranian religious propaganda, but now publishes various statements by Iranian officials and religious figures and produces materials of a religious and educational nature.

It should be noted that 7 people in SalamNews and InterAz were detained as a result of the operation conducted today by the Interior Ministry.