February 27th, 2012
Last month, Press TV aired a report on about Iranian women training in Ninjutsu grabbed media attention worldwide.
Reuters News Agency put a different spin on the story in a separate report published on February 16.
The report claimed that the athletes are undercover assassins in the service of the Islamic Republic.
Founder of Ninjutsu in Iran Sensei Akbar Faraji condemned and rejected the misleading report.
‘Reuters, we are athletes, not assassins:’ Iranian female Ninjas”We are simply athletes interested in martial arts. That’s all. We really enjoy the sport and have grievances against those who portrayed us as something we’re not. I demand that they tell people the truth about us,” Faraji told Press TV.
Ninjutsu trainee Khatereh Jalilzadeh explained about being contacted by Reuters, “She asked me whether or not I would defend my homeland, should it be attacked by Israel or the US. I think it’s obvious that not only any Iranian would do so, but people no matter where in the world will defend their homeland,” she said.
“I love martial arts and I have tried a couple of [different styles] before, but I find Ninjutsu to be the sport with more variety in it,” another athlete said.
Press TV contacted Tehran’s Reuters office, but they refused to comment.
On February 26, Reuters posted an advisory with some corrections made. The alterations, however, do not change the spin on the story as most of the text remained the same.