TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Monday banned CNN journalists from working in the country after the broadcaster misquoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Iran wanted nuclear weapons, the ISNA students news agency said.
CNN's simultaneous translation of Ahmadinejad's lengthy news conference on Saturday included the phrase "the use of nuclear weapons is Iran's right."
In fact, what the Iranian president said was that "Iran has the right to nuclear energy," the official IRNA news agency reported. CNN later clarified in an apology on Sunday night.
Iran denies any intention of seeking nuclear weapons, saying it wants atomic technology merely for the generation of electricity.
CNN on Monday acknowledged the mistranslation in a statement released from its headquarters in Atlanta and said it had apologized for the error on CNN International, CNNUSA and all other CNN outlets that had used the mistranslation.
In addition, the U.S. news group said it had expressed its regrets to the Iranian government and Iran's ambassador to the United Nations.
"Despite this there are reports today, Monday, that Iran has banned us from the country. CNN is very disappointed that this action has been taken," CNN group said.
Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, director of foreign media at Iran's Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, welcomed CNN's apology.
"But so far it's not clear whether it was something pre-planned or a mistake," he told state television. "Therefore, we will ban its activities (in Iran) for the time being."
Well, that's one way to encourage accuracy and accountability in the media.