Three days into the Iranian presidential "election" campaign, the Iranian government is yelping about foreign media interference.

An excerpt from the BBC story:

The channel complained of a "divide and rule" policy

An Iranian television channel has accused foreign media organisations of interfering in the country's forthcoming presidential election, just three days after the official start of the campaign.

In a special programme shown on Saturday, the 24-hour news channel Iranian News Network TV said foreign broadcasters, including Persian-language radio stations based abroad, were attempting to affect the outcome of the poll, scheduled for 17 June, by urging a low turnout.

"The foreign media are resorting to all the tricks in the book," said the programme's presenter. "The policy of creating division and discord is one of their old ploys."

"Iranian News Network TV receives and records pictures from news media all over the world," added a correspondent.

"Their propaganda can be summed up in one sentence - divide and rule."

You might assume everything would be fine with the domestic(ated) news media. Not so. Another excerpt:

Earlier this month, hardline MP Mehdi Kouchakzadeh launched a stinging attack on the Iranian press after one paper published an article which he said misrepresented his conduct in parliament.

"You are a bunch of liars who don't believe in anything and lie for a loaf of bread," the MP told one reporter.

Around 60 journalists gathered outside parliament several days later to protest against his remarks and what they see as a wider crackdown on the media.

The next day, the moderate daily Etemaad published a commentary calling on the Iranian establishment to accept the notion of being criticised in the media.

"In a democratic system, no one and no institution enjoys immunity or a safety margin," it said.