“I sincerely thank you for the many efforts that you made in different conditions… to be able to confront the enemy’s media campaigns that aim to distort the truth,” Raeisi said in the closing ceremony of the 21st Iran’s National Media Festival on Tuesday, which marks the National Journalists’ Day.

He stressed that confidence building is one of the most important characteristics of a journalist.

“The enemy’s goal is to weaken hope and faith in the hearts of the people. These are the two basic principles that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei] emphasizes.”

Raeisi stated that the enemy’s propaganda aims to disappoint people, adding that media workers play an important role in “creating hope.”

Iran marks National Journalists’ Day, which commemorates the death anniversary of a journalist and eight Iranian diplomats who lost their lives in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan, on the 17th day of the Persian calendar month of Mordad, which falls on Tuesday this year.

The nine Iranian citizens were killed after Taliban militants entered the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998 in an incident that sparked worldwide condeDAYtions.

Iran’s former Charge d’Affaires to Kabul Mohammad Reza Forqani was quoted by Fars News Agency in 2015 as saying that the Taliban had taken the Iranian diplomats hostage, but later released them.

He said that the US and British spy agencies played a role in the killing of the Iranians in a bid to sow discord between Iran and Afghanistan.

DAY/PressTV