Dr. Sepanji is DRESDEN FELLOW from February to December 2015, at the institute for communication sciences; Originally from Teheran, Iran. His research and teaching interests are: Islam, culture, media and communication (Islamophobia), political communication in Middle East and Iran, audience studies and analysis, research methodology in mass communication (Quantitative and Qualitative methods). Dr. Sepanji is researching in Dresden in the field of the representation of terrorism in the name of Islam in German, Iranian, French and USA print-media. Here in Dresden he has an active part of the lecture. With him, we spoke about his studies and research, the European fear of the Islam, his home country and the actual developments in Iran.

Mr. Sepanji, is your stay in Dresden the first in this city or generally in Germany?
Yes, this my first time in Germany in general, and as a DRESDEN FELLOW program in Dresden in particular.

Which impressions do you have here?
Dresden is a wonderful city, calm, peaceful, and I enjoy living here.

Which differences to Teheran are at most to be seen?
Actually, Teheran is a metropolis and a very big city. The population size of Teheran is almost 17 million inhabitants. It’s a very busy city, and it will take almost two hours if you want to pass it from one side to another. Comparatively, Dresden is a beautiful city full of nature and with less traffic jam, the air is so fresh that I enjoy strolling along the Elbe River and historical sites.

How the contact to the Technic University of Dresden began? Do you know Prof. Donsbach and Hagen before?
I met Prof. Donsbach in a conference in Istanbul on 2011. His sudden death was a great loss for us, and I still can’t believe that he left so soon. We have been in active contact over the years via email. I told him about my postdoc-phase and finally he invited me to work on a project together with him here in Dresden. So the connection to TU started through Prof. Donsbach. In the Institute of communication sciences, I met Prof. Hagen, who I enjoy sharing my experience and learning from his thorough view and understanding of the science of communication.

Have you as a DRESDEN FELLOW an active part of the lecture?
Yes, I had a lecture, which was a part of a course regarding media systems in the world. My lecture was about the media system in Iran and took place five weeks ago. Clearly, I could understand from the notes of the students that they were eager to learn about Iran and Iranian media system. Especially that many lack general knowledge pertaining to Iran and are blindfolded by stereotypes about how things are in Iran.

The system of the Islamic Republic of Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 is very isolated and conservative, and the way the media system operates is very complicated and connected to the political system, which is largely controlled by politics and authorities. The issue is so vast and broad that I am ready to investigate it beyond this interview and integrate it in a course here at TU.

The other research field that I worked on here was preparing a proposal about islamophobia using an Iranian innovated and advanced content analysis method for German, Iranian, French and American print-media. Where I will analyze the representation and framing of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist incident in Paris that occurred this year. In this context, I applied for two fellowships that if worked will prolong my stay here in Germany to achieve my research and teaching aims.

My third research project highlights the so-called “Audience Phantasm”; a theory and conceptual model which I invented and developed in the frame of my Ph.D. dissertation. This model describes the imagination of audience and media by Islamic countries authorities’, in general, and in Iran in specific. Together with Prof. Hagen and Prof. Donsbach we wanted to write a paper that describes this theory and model before the tragic death of Prof. Donsbach.

So would you say that how the Iranian media system is? Is it a closed one? You emphasized that it is strongly influenced by politics and Religious Authorities’.
To give you an answer I should refer to my Ph.D. dissertation, where I applied a deep content analysis using a mixed design that was divided into qualitative and quantitative parts. The whole media system in Iran, especially broadcasting media is under the control and supervision of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The broadcasting-system is called: “Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)” and the CEO appointed by Supreme Leader, which manages about 50 radio- and 49 TV-channels.

Printing media are generally supervised by The Press Supervision Board and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which its Minister is appointed by the president of Iran and should get the confidence vote of Islamic Parliament. The Press Supervision Board can ban print-media.

What do you think about the changes in the government, after Ahmadi-Nejad? Is it freer than those years?
We in Iran hope so. Nevertheless, the main problem in Iran are the sanctions because of them people have so many problems that extend from finding medications, to basic human needs and opportunities. We hope after the Nuclear Agreement between Iran and 3+3 these conditions will change. For Iranian people, the sanctions are very harmful.

Anyway, the Executive Branch under the supervision of Hassan Rohani; the new president, are working to solve economic problems of the country and they did not have enough time to invest in political and internal problems (e.g., the lack of freedom of expression or speech).

We hear so many good things about it in presidential speeches, you never know maybe after solving the nuclear issue they can do something. We are looking forward to it but in my opinion I believe that things won’t go as smooth as planned particularly in light of the unstable political situation in Iran and the current fragile connection with the international world.

What about the other media in Iran, music, cinema, etc.?
For music, published media, cinema and theater only the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is responsible. Observers check all of media contents and if they agree with contents and forms, will confirm issuing permits. But the Minister has to answer the questions of conservative parliament. For example, the movie about a religious person that was viewed last week was banned; it spoke about the nephew of Prophet Mohammed. This shows how some religious pressure groups in Iran operate.

I read that you are interested in the description of terrorism in the name of Islam in media. Why are you so fascinated in this research field?
As I told, we want to study the representation of terrorist incidents in Iranian media as an Islamic country as well as other countries like Germany, France and the United States. The aim is to study the frames of these representations. As a part of this research, I want to investigate how these media represent Islam; a religion with the greatest growth in the world. It’s very important for me because I discovered here in Germany and especially in Dresden, there are so many people who do not know anything about Islam. Islam is the religion of kindness, Islam is the religion of tolerance, but they think, it’s the religion of terrorism. If we know the origins of Islam and Muslims beliefs, it can be concluded that ISIS, or the other terrorist groups and their supporters are not Muslims and do not believe in Islam. As an expert, who has more than 30 years of Islamic and religious studies, I want to tell you the origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the same. These terrorists do not follow the instructions of the Prophet Mohammed. He was the kindest person in his era, and there are so many Quranic verses (in the holy book of Muslims), as well as, sayings from him about the condemnation of Terrorism.

Unfortunately, so many media contents represent terrorist groups as the representative of Islam, and people are accepting them as facts without questioning the reliability and credibility of this news.

In history you fought against Iraq in a very long and bloody war. How is the actual relationship between these two states?
As a matter of fact, Saddam, the former dictator of Iraq, was the starter of war against Iran, and UN verified it. It was a war between brothers and for nothing. But now we do not have any problems with each other. These two countries are working together in so many economic and cultural projects, they are coming to Iran and Iranians are going to Iraq, but now, IS is the main problem and all countries in the Middle East shall help each other against IS. Although, so many Oil-Dollars are coming for IS, from some countries.

What do you think about the solution of this problem?
In my opinion, big Islamic countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia should solve this problem together with other countries. If they start the dialog with each other, the problems like IS and misunderstandings can be solved. It is the plan of Iran to do it, after the nuclear agreement, so the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Dr. Zarif was in Qatar and in Kuwait and last week he was in Iraq to find a solution for regional problems.

Will you stay in Dresden?
'Actually my visa is valid until the end of this year, but I had a talk with Prof. Hagen and if the fellowships I applied would work, I will to stay longer in Germany because Germany is a well-known country for its’ unique and reliable educational programs that are widely recognized to be the best of the best. Additionally, the diversity and variety of gained knowledge from Europe are other key components that should be integrated in the researcher’ studying plan in order to achieve the above-mentioned goals, something that will be impossible to do if I restricted my studies to my homeland.

Afterward, I hope to have the opportunity to continue my research in Germany and to be able to find a position to pursue my goals. Furthermore, I believe that Germans are not aware of the real picture of Islam and Islamic countries and some experts like me could help.

My last question is which advices would you have for future students of communication?
I think students of communication should broaden their spectrum of understanding and awareness to news of other countries and go beyond the comfort zone of their own media and news. After all, investigating the integrity of the self is part of being successful. There is always more to learn, particularly when it comes to the complicated current political situation in the Middle East, where media is not the third or fourth political power engaging in the conflicts, but part of it.

Thank you very much for this interesting interview.
The Interview was conducted by Winfried Wagner in August 2015