[2] Lt. Col. Barry E. Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed the formation of the directorate for Iran in both a phone discussion and an email message; "As the State Department stated in early March (Daily Press Brief, Mar.
3), the U.S. Government is organizing itself better to address what Secretary Rice called 'one of the great challenges for the United States, a strategic challenge for the United States and for those who desire peace and freedom,' Venable wrote.
[4] In September 2006, the McClatchy Newspapers obtained a report drafted by the unit 'charging that U.S. international broadcasts into Iran aren't tough enough on the Islamic regime...It accuses the Voice of America's Persian TV service and Radio Farda, a U.S. government Persian-language broadcast, of taking a soft line toward Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime and not giving adequate time to government critics.'
Initial responses hint that the unit holds strong directive and similarities with its OSP predecessor.
However, despite the issues arisen, the Pentagon has managed to obtain jurisdiction of VOA Persian and Radio Farda from the State Department.