Wall Street Journal reporter sacked over alleged arms-deal links

The Wall Street Journal has fired prominent reporter Jay Solomon over ethics violations following allegations of involvement in potential dealings, including arms sales, with an Iranian-American businessman who is currently under FBI investigation. 

Solomon, the newspaper’s chief foreign affairs correspondent and author of a book on secret deals involving Iran, “is no longer employed by The Wall Street Journal”, said a statement by the newspaper’s parent Dow Jones, a unit of News Corp, on Wednesday.

“He has not been forthcoming with us about his actions or his reporting practices and he has forfeited our trust,” said the Journal in a written statement. 

READ MORE: New York Times slams ‘misguided attack on Al Jazeera’

Solomon’s dismissal comes after the Associated Press reported he was offered a stake in a company by Farhad Azima, one of his key sources, who has been linked to deals involving the CIA, according to the report.

The AP report alleges Azima was under investigation by the FBI for what it describes as corrupt global business deals, the latest of which involves a hotel in Tblisi, Georgia.

The investigation found Solomon’s involvement in prospective commercial deals, including one involving arms sales to foreign governments.

AP said that during its investigation of Azima, it obtained emails and text messages between Azima and Solomon, as well as other documents.

It also provides a document that shows Soloman was a partner in one of Azima’s companies.  

The news agency said it asked the Journal about the documents appearing to link Solomon and Azima, which led to his firing.

READ MORE: Reporters face 70 years in prison over anti-Trump march

Solomon told AP in a statement he never engaged in any business dealings with Azima.

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the AP “also quotes an email from April 2015 in which Azima discusses a proposal with Solomon for a $725bn contract with the UAE, providing for a reconnaissance operation in neighbouring Iran”.

“Solomon says he regrets what he calls this lack of judgement, but it would appear that his career as journalist and commentator is over,” he said.

Thomas Burr, former president of National Press Club, told Al Jazeera that journalists “always correct our own errors and we are very forefront about it.

“We don’t try to hide things and in this situation the WSJ acted immediately to make sure what was out there, they took care of it,” Burr said.

“It is unfortunate that people will jump on this at any opportunity to malign the media.”