Several Iranian state media or media close to the Tehran regime announced Tuesday, June 22 that access to their website had been blocked, a message posting that they had been “Seized by the government” American.
The sites of the Arabic news channels Al-Alam and English Press-TV, which belong to the state television network Irib, posted the same message referring to the seizure of their domain under US sanctions.
The message is accompanied by the seals of the Federal Police and the Ministry of Commerce. This action takes place within the framework of the exercise of presidential authority in the face of an extraordinary threat, according to one of the articles of law cited in the message.
“An act of piracy”
The site of the Yemeni Houthi rebel chain, al-Masirah, was also blocked with the same message. On the site of the Houthi political wing, al-Masirah condemned “An act of piracy and the confiscation of copyright” by the United States which intervenes “Without justification and without warning”. The channel, however, created a new website which was operational Tuesday evening.
Several Iraqi websites, including that of the Hezbollah brigades, Iraq’s most radical pro-Iran faction, were no longer accessible on Tuesday and only a message from the “US Department of Commerce”.
Already in October 2020, this site as well as that of al-Etejah, the television of the Hezbollah brigades, had suffered the same fate. As is the site of al-Noujaba, Iraq’s other major pro-Iran faction. These two factions, made up of Iraqi fighters but trained, financed and armed by Iran, operate both in Iraq but also in Syria alongside Bashar Al-Assad’s regime and Lebanese Hezbollah.
“Apparent coordinated action”
The site of the Bahraini opposition television station, LuaLua TV, was also blocked. The chain, which has offices in London and Beirut, lambasted a “Illegal seizure” from their website. The Bahraini authorities accuse the groups controlling the channel of being close to the Iranian regime. Bahrain is home to the 5e US fleet and normalized its relations with Israel.
However, Al-Massirah and LuaLua TV programs were still being broadcast, according to Agence France-Presse reporters in Yemen and Bahrain.
Press-TV mentioned “An apparent coordinated action” on his Twitter account, while Iranian state television denounced the blocking “Pro-resistance media revealing the crimes of US allies in the region”. “While the Democratic government of the United States claims to support freedom of expression, in practice it closes the media by supporting” Israel and Saudi Arabia, two historic allies of Washington in the Middle East, added the Irib on its website.
According to Iranian television, the Palestine channels Al-Youm, Naba and Al-Kawthar were also blocked. The Fars agency, close to the Iranian ultraconservatives, also denounced “A flagrant violation of the freedom of the press”.
Iran is under a series of US economic sanctions for its nuclear enrichment program suspected by Washington of having military aims. The Islamic Republic is also accused of human rights violations and of supporting terrorism.