The Spanish satellite company Hispasat has stopped airing Press TV and Hispan TV as of Friday December 21 and ordered Overon, another satellite company, to follow suit.
Hispasat’s removal of the Islamic Republic state channels comes after a similar move by the French company Eutelsat, which also owns part of Hispasat.
According to Overon, the European union’s blacklisting of Ezatollah Zarghami, the head of the Islamic Republic broadcaster Seda-va-Sima, has led to the decision to follow “a wider interpretation of the EU regulations.”
Iran says that Hispan TV is officially registered in Spain and has been operating under the media regulations of that country.
Iranian officials say they will take legal action against the recent “wave of new European and American attacks against Iranian media.”
Iran claims that the sanctions on Seda-va-Sima result from the influence of the “Zionist lobby on the U.S. Congress.”
The British and German media supervisory boards have also stopped airing Press TV programs.
Human rights activists have accused Seda-va-Sima of having a key role in the crackdown on political dissidents and civil activists in Iran.
