The story: Iran’s parliament has approved controversial changes to guidelines for the appointment of officials to “sensitive positions” which will give intelligence agencies expanded powers. The revisions are geared to secure the approval of the Guardian Council, which must confirm the bill. If implemented, all government appointees—except those named by the supreme leader, the judiciary, or others whose appointments have been specified in the constitution—must now be confirmed by judiciary, intelligence ministry and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization officials.

The coverage: Most Iranian media outlets—including Reformist newspapers—have refrained from commenting on the amendments to the bill, choosing only to highlight and summarize the revisions with minimal coverage...