Tehran, YJC. The Islamic Republic of Iran has closed down the headquarters of 17 satellite channels “because they have attempted to create division in the country”, an Iranian intelligence official said.
"Enemies had launched seventeen satellite channels under the rubric of Shia,”
said Mohammad Pour-Fallahi, Iran’s Deputy Intelligence Minister.
Fars news agency cited the official as saying on Sunday that the Islamic
Republic has shut down these offices inside the country.
He did not provide any further information about the specifications of the
satellite channels or the location of their headquarters.
In a similar report that was released last August, the
IranianIntelligence Ministry announced that its forces had shut down
offices of a number of foreign-backed satellite channels across the country for
the channels’ "clandestine and illegal” activities.
The August report further mentioned that the channels had illegally set up
production studios in the provinces of Qom, Isfahan, Tehran as well as Razavi Khorasan.
The Intelligence Ministry added that a number of people had been arrested
based on orders that had been issued by the Judiciary.
The channels so mentioned were producing programs which tried to create
sectarian rift and "intensify division within the Muslim communituy to distort
the image of Shiism,” the report noted.
The ministry further explained that the channels had been serving the
interests of certain foreign intelligence services and were following the
schemes of global arrogance.