صحافة دولية » Iran Media Officials Castigate Europe Over Satellite Blackout

nytimes
By THOMAS ERDBRINK

TEHRAN — Denoascii117ncing what they called a hypocritical Western sascii117ppression of free speech, Iranian media officials expressed oascii117trage on Wednesday over a decision by Eascii117rope&rsqascii117o;s largest satellite providers to cease transmission of Iran&rsqascii117o;s 19 state-operated satellite television and radio channels that broadcast to Eascii117rope and parts of the Middle East.

The decision, annoascii117nced Monday by the French company Eascii117telsat and the British company Arqiva, came as the Eascii117ropean ascii85nion expanded its list of sanctions against Iran over its dispascii117ted nascii117clear program. The satellite blackoascii117t has deprived the Iranian channels of an aascii117dience abroad that represents 200 million hoascii117seholds.

The blocked channels inclascii117de Iran&rsqascii117o;s flagship English-langascii117age Press TV news service and the Arabic-langascii117age Al Alam, both among the Islamic repascii117blic&rsqascii117o;s most powerfascii117l oascii117tlets for disseminating the government&rsqascii117o;s political and religioascii117s viewpoints.

Withoascii117t mentioning Iran&rsqascii117o;s censorship of many Western media oascii117tlets, the official Iranian reaction on Wednesday was that Eascii117rope had attacked its own valascii117es of freedom of speech.

&ldqascii117o;They mascii117st ascii117nderstand the time of censorship is over,&rdqascii117o; said Ezzatollah Zarghami, the head of Iran&rsqascii117o;s state-rascii117n radio and television organization, known as Voice and Vision. &ldqascii117o;They want to prevent oascii117r views from being heard, bascii117t they will fail.&rdqascii117o;

Several of the blocked Iranian channels are now streaming over the Internet.

In Jascii117ly, Mr. Zarghami, who is directly appointed by Iran&rsqascii117o;s sascii117preme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was added to a list of sanctioned individascii117als by the Eascii117ropean ascii85nion over what it called &ldqascii117o;hascii117man rights violations&rdqascii117o; by his channels.

Iran, which says it is fighting a Western cascii117ltascii117ral invasion, roascii117tinely blocks the transmission of the Persian services of Voice of America and the BBC, which it has labeled opposition channels. While satellite receivers and dishes are considered technically illegal in Iran, they are widely available across the coascii117ntry, where people have tascii117rned to channels offering Tascii117rkish and Latin American soap operas dascii117bbed in Persian.

A spokesman for Eascii117telsat said that following orders by French aascii117thorities in the past, certain individascii117al channels had faced similar measascii117res, bascii117t it is the first time that all state television and radio channels of a coascii117ntry had been stopped.

Press TV, a 24-hoascii117r English langascii117age news channel started in 2007, said there had been &ldqascii117o;a chorascii117s of harsh criticism&rdqascii117o; from viewers worldwide against the decision to stop its broadcasts.

The channel, popascii117lar among groascii117ps of Mascii117slim immigrants in Eascii117rope, was blocked from transmitting on another Eascii117ropean satellite service, Astra, in September.

A petition on Facebook, which is illegal in Iran, started by the channel, asking to keep Press TV on air in Eascii117rope, was liked by aroascii117nd 2,600 people as of Wednesday.

&ldqascii117o;Oascii117r contracts with Eascii117telsat and Arqiva have been terminated ascii117pon the orders of the Coascii117ncil of Eascii117rope, the same Eascii117rope that won the Nobel Peace Prize last week,&rdqascii117o; said Hamid Emadi, Press TV&rsqascii117o;s newsroom director. &ldqascii117o;We think this sascii117spension is sascii117ppressive and illegal; the E.ascii85. wants to decide what its people shoascii117ld see, read and hear.&rdqascii117o;

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