European satellite operator Eutelsat said Wednesday that it will request broadcasters to stop showing Iran’s English-language news channel Press TV following sanctions over its broadcasting of “forced confessions”.
Press TV announced the news via its Twitter feed earlier in the day and the France-based Eutelsat confirmed the news to AFP.
It follows fresh sanctions imposed last month by the European Union against 29 Iranian officials and Press TV, which has shown people giving “confessions” of their part in anti-government protests.
“Eutelsat has assessed the consequences of the adoption by the European Union on November 14, 2022, of additional sanctions against the perpetrators of serious human rights violations in Iran,” the French company told AFP.
“Eutelsat has contacted its counterparties broadcasting Press TV, in order to enforce the cessation of broadcasting as soon as possible,” it added.
Iran has been rocked by a wave of protests since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest by “morality police” officers for an alleged breach of the country’s dress code, which requires women to wear a headscarf.
Iran blames the United States and other “enemies” for trying to destabilise the country by fuelling the protests.
The latest EU sanctions also targeted Iranian law enforcement and military personnel, including the head of Iran’s cyberpolice, Vahid Mohammad Naser Majid, for his role in the “arbitrary arrest” of people criticising the regime online.
