Rouhani translator: “No, he did not use the word ‘Holocaust.'”
We already know that Sohrab Ahmari, the Wall Street Journal, Arash Karami, Ali Alfoneh, two journalists who spoke with the New York Times blog The Lede, and Fars News Agency all concur that Rouhani did not use the word “Holocaust” in his interview with CNN and Christiane Amanpour. We already know, in other words, that CNN mistranslated him. And CNN also already knows.
Now, just to make matters more clear, Rouhani’s own translator has weighed in. “No, he did not use the word ‘Holocaust,'” Banafsheh Keynoush told NBC’s Robert Windrem.
Note, too, how NBC’s Windrem seems to gently imply at the end of the video that Amanpour, who has repeatedly stood by CNN’s translation, would know enough Farsi to realize that Rouhani did not use the word “Holocaust.” The corollary would be that she has been intentionally deceiving her audience.
Credit goes to NBC for investigating the issue. As for CNN, it is not to late to make the right journalistic move: Prominently correct the mistranslations — and while they’re at it, demand an explanation from Amanpour.
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