WASHINGTON, D.C., November 25, 2013 -- News about the Iran nuclear agreement hammered out early Sunday in Geneva reached Iranian audiences through the Voice of America almost as soon as U.S. officials made the deal public.
VOA's Persian Service provided early and extensive live coverage throughout the day, including reaction from Iran.
"It was the first time that we had such a high number of people talking to us from Inside Iran -more than half a dozen live video Skypes from inside the country," says VOA Persian Acting Division Director Setareh Derakhshesh.
"Iranian state media also re-ran two of our early web reports, using VOA as a primary source of information," Derakhshesh says.
VOA's Persian Service added an additional half hour to its early Sunday TV news broadcast to bring details of the agreement to Iranian audiences, including President Obama's late night comments from the White House, and interviews with State Department Persian Spokesman Alan Eyre, and other analysts.
"Voice of America remains one of the best ways to communicate directly with people who have been cut off from the free flow of accurate and objective news and information, and this is yet another example of the effectiveness of what we do," says VOA Director David Ensor.
VOA, one of the leading international broadcasters in Iran, also had a surge in traffic to its Persian website following announcement of the nuclear deal, which calls for curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for some relief from international sanctions.
VOA also received more than 1,000 comments sent on Facebook during a half hour interactive TV program that takes questions via social media platforms.
(VOA/PAO)