Senator Payman says Iranian state-owned PressTV should be banned from operating in Australia

WA senator Fatima Payman has called for Iranian state-owned PressTV to be banned in Australia after she was caught out praising the authoritarian regime as an “incredible place” for women in an interview with the station.

Ms Payman has now also claimed she would do more “background checks” on media outlets before conducting interviews after arguing she was “taken out of context” by PressTV.

Speaking to the TV station outside a Sydney conference last month, the independent senator said Iran was an “incredible place” for “allowing for women to participate in the workforce, to ensure that they have a voice and their voices are heard”.

She went on to say: “They’re involved in the democratic process — realities that we’re not privy to living here and listening to the propaganda that we receive from very single-sided organisations with a specific agenda.”

Senator Payman has previously claimed she didn’t know who the outlet was or that they had been sanctioned by the Federal Government in 2023.

She has now called on the Federal Government to shut down the sanctioned entities’ right to operate in Australia, saying they shouldn’t have been at the event.

“I definitely want the government to ensure that ... no media outlet that has an active sanction against them should ever be allowed to operate,” she said.

She told The Nightly on Thursday she felt “compromised” by the situation, which had prompted sharp criticism, including calls for her to be investigated.

“I’ve definitely taken steps in terms of double and triple checking with every event and asking ... who the media outlets are,” Senator Payman said.

“I know that it was a mistake and a situation where ... things were taken out of context and I was misinformed but I know that moving forward ... diligent steps will be taken.”

Coalition senator Dave Sharma on Wednesday wrote to Foreign Minister Penny Wong demanding she launch an investigation into potential foreign interference by Iran over the operations of a sanctioned news network in Australia.

The former ambassador to Israel requested her to direct the Australian Sanctions Office to investigate the presence of PressTV and potential enforcement action.

Senator Payman claimed she was sharing reflections from women she spoke to at the event and were not her personal opinion.

“Maybe I should have been specific and said this is exactly what I’ve heard, instead of just, you know, paraphrasing but ... it’s definitely been a learning experience,” she said.

Australia’s largest Iranian community organisation has asked the government to investigate whether Senator Payman was influenced by foreign agents following the comments.