Great Satan US setting stage for war with bans on Iranian media: Analyst

A political commentator says the ongoing wave of attacks against Iranian channels is part of Washington’s campaign to prepare the ground for military aggression against Iran, Press TV reports.

“This is an entire campaign on the part of US imperialism, it is part of a genesis of a campaign to actually create the climate for war with Iran,” Ralph Schoenman told Press TV on Monday.

Schoenman added that taking the Islamic Republic’s channels off air is an attempt to threaten the Iranian people and “prevent the people of the world from hearing the point of view of those under attack and who are targeted by US imperialism.”

Several international satellite providers, including Eutelsat and Intelsat, have stopped the broadcast of a number of Iranian channels.

On June 19, Intelsat said it would no longer provide services to Iranian channels, including Press TV, as of July 1. The decision has been made under the pretext that the company should be “abiding by” the sanctions against the president of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Ezatollah Zarghami.

Press TV has learned that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – an agency of the US Treasury Department – is behind the pressure on Intelsat.

Describing the measures as a “police state operation,” Schoenman said, “This ban on Iran’s communications is part of the totalitarian process and a threat to the people of the world.”

“It is an assault on free speech, it is an attempt to threaten and throttle those who would oppose and expose the nature of US criminal activity around the world,” the political commentator added.

Press TV and other Iranian channels have come under an unprecedented wave of attacks by European governments and satellite companies since January 2012. They have been taken off the air in several Western countries, including Britain, France, Germany and Spain.

European satellite companies say they are complying with the anti-Iran sanctions. However, Michael Mann, a spokesman for the EU foreign policy chief, has told Press TV that the sanctions do not apply to Iranian media.

The French-Israeli CEO of Europe’s satellite giant, Eutelsat, has written letters to several satellite companies, asking them to stop cooperating with Iranian channels.

The Israeli lobby in the United States has publicly supported European attempts to shut down Press TV.