IRNA – Iran envoy to UK referred to continuation of ‘Iran International’ attacks against him for the third consecutive day and accusing Iranian media of following blindly, saying it is due to its unreliability in Iran.


After announcing that the observer body in the UK Ofcom has not accepted the justifications of the TV network 'Iran International' for holding interview with representative of Al-Ahwazi terrorist group, Hamid Baeidinejad in a Twitter message said the public opinion in Iran considers Iran International as a Saudi network due to its $290m budget which is supplied by Saudis.

Baeidinejad said in a series of tweets earlier on Tuesday that Ofcom has issued a 13-page report following Iran’s lawsuit against “Iran International”, rejecting all the justifications for carrying out an interview with a spokesman of an armed group by the London-based channel which receives financial support from Saudi Arabia.

After the interview in which the spokesman of Al-Ahwazi terrorist group hailed a terrorist attack in Iranian southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran’s embassy in London lodged a lawsuit with Ofcom calling the TV channel’s act a blatant violation of law and a clear sign of support for terrorism.

“In this case the news coverage of an act of violence, including an interview with an individual justifying that act of violence, in our view, clearly had the potential to be offensive to the viewers,” Ofcom said in its report.

“Iran International” which started work on May 18, 2017, broadcasts political and social programs in Persian language.

Ofcom’s 13-page report describes in detail all the acts by the channel to modify its stances on the day of reporting the incident, the Iranian ambassador said.

Baeidinejad, however, said that Ofcom has come to the conclusion that with the corrective measures taken by the channel, it has made up for its early unacceptable act, and therefore does not need to be legally prosecuted.

He complained that Ofcom is building its investigations on a recorded program of the interview, while it should have made judgments based on the live broadcast.

“Iran International” should take a big lesson from its “totally wrong and illegal act” so as not to do such an illegal act in the future, the Iranian ambassador said.