UPDATE (9:00 a.m. Eastern March 15, 2026): Sky News international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn continued to defend he and CNN's attendance at the Iranian Embassy's party for the regime. This time from inside Tehran. Read more below.
CNN made headlines this week after two members of their London bureau were caught at a regime party at the Iranian Embassy in the U.K., thanks to images released by Iran’s state media Iran Press. But they weren’t the only media present at the gathering. Sky News international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn could also be seen in Iran Press images rubbing shoulders with an Embassy official, taking to X to defend those there.
In a series of X posts on Thursday March 12 and Friday March 13, Waghorn belligerently defended attendance at the event by the Labour Party officials from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Foreign Ministry and the press.
“It's called diplomacy and journalism, things the @dailytelegraph once used to know a bit about before its sad demise, don’t [sic] be so absurdly disingenous [sic],” he wrote.
What solicited that kind of response? A post from Telegraph political correspondent Genevieve Holl-Allen touting the original report:
“EXC: Foreign Office staff attended an event at the Iranian embassy to celebrate the Islamic revolution weeks after the regime massacred thousands of its people Civil servants heard a speech from the ambassador praising Iran’s “remarkable accomplishments”
It's called diplomacy and journalism, things the @dailytelegraph once used to know a bit about before its sad demise, dont be so absurdly disingenous https://t.co/MIxk6s2env
— Dominic Waghorn (@DominicWaghorn) March 12, 2026
Waghorn bitterly lashed out at The Telegraph reporters with a dose of agism: “Just to be clear again journalists and diplomats go to all kind of national day events at all kinds of embassies. The young staff at the @dailytelegraph may be forgiven for not knowing that yet but the rest of you for goodness sake behave[.]”
Just to be clear again journalists and diplomats go to all kind of national day events at all kinds of embassies. The young staff at the @dailytelegraph may be forgiven for not knowing that yet but the rest of you for goodness sake behave
— Dominic Waghorn (@DominicWaghorn) March 13, 2026
In a Thursday post, Waghorn took to defending CNN from critics who took issue with how friendly CNN had been with their coverage of Iran since the conflict began:
The 'who needs Iranian state media when you've got CNN' trope is crass and cynically contrived to discredit a team of journalists who took risks to do their job and tell the story inside Iran. Peddled by propagandists or people who should know better. Get over it.
The 'who needs Iranian state media when you've got CNN' trope is crass and cynically contrived to discredit a team of journalists who took risks to do their job and tell the story inside Iran. Peddled by propagandists or people who should know better. Get over it.
— Dominic Waghorn (@DominicWaghorn) March 12, 2026
“Top Iranian official pushes back against Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ invoking the Shia spirit of resistance. Farsi for ‘bring it on’,” he touted in a March 10 post.
Judge by a review of Waghorn’s X account, he’s a pretty staunch leftist.
On Sunday morning, Waghorn continued to take a defiant stance against critics of him rubbing shoulders with regime officials, calling it "commit[ting] journalism." But he was saying it from inside Tehran. "Just to be clear AGAIN yes journalists myself among them were at the Iran National Day event at the Iranian Embassy including ITV, CNN et al as they are every year. To commit journalism. I’m now in Tehran doing the same," he wrote on X seemingly throwing CNNN under the bus as a repeat participant.
Just to be clear AGAIN yes journalists myself among them were at the Iran National Day event at the Iranian Embassy including ITV, CNN et al as they are every year. To commit journalism. I’m now in Tehran doing the same.
— Dominic Waghorn (@DominicWaghorn) March 15, 2026
