Principlist candidate Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel addresses people in the holy city of Qom on June 4, 2013.[/caption]TEHRAN (FNA)- Senior Iranian Lawmaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel condemned the ban by certain western satellite operators on Iranian channels, saying the act proved the western states' double-standard attitude towards freedom of speech and information.
Haddad Adel censured certain western satellite service providers for pulling the plug on Iranian channels, adding that sanctions on Iranian media prove that the West does not believe in freedom of speech and is afraid of the truth.
Early in June, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi said, We strongly condemn this illegal act. Intel Sat is part of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) and its duty is to provide satellite service to member countries without any discrimination".
Araqchi said that Iran has been an ITSO member since 1972, and based on the organization's regulations, Intel Sat should respect Iran's basic rights.
The Iranian government has started to investigate the illegal ban on its media and is going to negotiate with the Intel Sat authorities to settle the dispute, he pointed out.
The fact that the United States puts a company under pressure to cut its services to Iran basically contradicts to the Wests claims on the very basic rules of human rights and freedom of speech, Araqchi said referring to Washingtons anti-Iran policies and its pressures on companies who preserve ties with the Islamic Republic.
In their campaign against alternative voices and freedom of speech, a number of western satellite firms pulled the plug on several Iranian television channels, including Alalam News Network.
Also in January, the government of Spain asked the country's major satellite provider Hispasat to take an Iranian satellite channel off the air in a blatant violation of freedom of speech.
The move came a month after the Spanish satellite company - Hispasat - terminated the terrestrial broadcast of Hispan TV.
Hispan TV, along with Iran's 24-hour English language news channel Press TV, were targeted by Hispasat's fellow European satellite providers Eutelsat and Hotbird. Hispasat is partly owned by Eutelsat, whose French-Israeli CEO was blamed for the wave of attacks on Iranian media in Europe.
Also, in a flagrant violation of the freedom of speech, European satellite service providers Eutelsat SA and Intelsat ordered media services company Arqiva on October 15 to stop the broadcast of several Iranian satellite channels, including Press TV, alalam, Jam-e-Jam 1 and 2, Sahar 1 and 2, Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, Quran TV, and the Arabic-language al-Kawthar TV.
By Fars News Agency
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