A political analyst says the recent bans against Press TV are due to its extensive coverage of events threatening the monopoly of the Zionist-controlled Western media on information.
“The Zionist regime - Israel, who controls large chunks of the Western media networks - [and] its Western imperialist masters are after suppressing uncensored, unpackaged news or facts. They want to bring a monopoly on knowledge and information,” Saeb Shaath, an author and Middle East expert from Belfast, told Press TV on Monday.
On June 19, communications satellite services provider Intelsat said it would no longer provide services to Iranian channels, including the English-language news channel, Press TV. The decision has been made under the pretext that the company should be abiding by the sanctions against the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
Intelsat noted that it had been ordered by the US government to avoid extending IRIB’s license, saying it would stop providing services to Iranian channels as of July 1.
Following Press TV’s coverage of events such as the US police brutality against the Occupy Wall Street movement, riots in London, unrest in Spain and Greece and the racism exercised by the Canadian administration against the country’s indigenous population, many people in the West consider Press TV as a reliable source of information, said Shaath.
Describing Press TV’s coverage of the Israeli attack against Gaza in 2008 as “very effective” in mustering international support for the Palestinian cause, Shaath said the Iranian news channel’s reports prevented Israel from telling lies and “focused on Israeli occupation of Palestine and the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Press TV and other Iranian channels have come under an unprecedented wave of attacks by European governments and satellite companies since January 2012. They were taken off air in several Western countries, including Britain, France, Germany and Spain.
European satellite companies say they are complying with anti-Iran sanctions. However, EU foreign policy chief's spokesman, Michael Mann, has told Press TV that sanctions do not apply to media.
The Israeli lobby in the United States has publicly supported European attempts to shut down Press TV.
By Press TV
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