In a bizarre case of mistaken identity, Iran’s state-controlled media outlet Fars News Agency (FNA) published on Tuesday what it claimed was an interview with BuzzFeed Washington, D.C., bureau chief John Stanton.
However, the interview actually took place with conspiracy theory writer John Stanton, who frequently contributes to Counterpunch and other anti-Semitic, anti-American periodicals.
The Fars story, which featured a large picture of BuzzFeed’s Stanton, claimed that the reporter "likened the conduct of the U.S. government to the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler" and accused it of supporting "totalitarian regimes across the globe."
BuzzFeed’s Stanton, when questioned about the interview on Twitter by a Washington Free Beacon reporter, made clear that he had never participated in an interview with Iran’s state-run media.
"No I've never spoken to the Iranian propaganda service," he tweeted. "Or used the word hegemony, for that matter."
"Why can't I ever be mistaken for a john Stanton who gets free jameson everywhere?" he later joked on Twitter.
The story had not been corrected as of Wednesday afternoon.