Reporter says media incited Iran unrest

TEHRAN, July 1 (UPI) -- A correspondent for Newsweek magazine says the western media was stirring up unrest in Iran by harping on the country's post-election problems.

Maziar Bahari, a Canadian-Iranian journalist who also works with the BBC and Britain's Channel 4, raised the allegation during a news conference Tuesday at the Iranian jail where he was detained while covering the protests that broke out immediately after Iran's disputed presidential election.

"Western media are an inseparable part of the capitalist machine of western liberal democracies," Bahari declared. "A Western journalist who comes to Iran ... is mainly concerned with the interests of the West, which are defined in relation to each issue at every period of time."

Bahari said the U.S. and European media outlets have played roles in "velvet revolutions" in other nations. He said Newsweek, the BBC, CNN and The New York Times were particular troublemakers.

Iran's state-supported Press TV said Wednesday the statements in the jailhouse interview bolstered the Tehran government's contention that foreign journalists were stoking the post-election unrest.

Newsweek issued a statement insisting that Bahari be released and said his coverage of the Iranian elections was fair and gave equal emphasis to "all sides of the issues."