The European satellite communications company Intelset has stopped airing the Iranian government’s foreign channels such as Press TV, Hispan and a number of others. Iran has challenged the move and threatened legal action.
Iran’s English-language programs have been eliminated from Hotbird, Eutelset and Intelset, and its Spanish channel, Hispan TV, and Arabic channel, Al-Alam, have been dropped by Utelset.
In a breaking news bulletin, Al-Alam announced that the “international companies Intelset and Utelset, under pressure from the U.S., have stopped broadcasting Iranian programs.”
In addition, iFilm, another Iranian channel that only airs Iranian series, and the Kosar channel have also been cut from a number of satellite services.
Press TV has said that the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) has called on the U.S. to negotiate with Iran regarding this issue.
The report adds that Intelset informed Iran’s national broadcaster that due to U.S. sanctions, it would stop airing the broadcaster’s programs beginning July 1.
Iran’s head of national broadcasting reacted to the move, saying this only reveals that Iranian channels are influential and cannot be tolerated by the West.
