Gulfsat drops Iran TV channels iFilm, Al-Kawthar under Eutelsat pressure

The Arab satellite provider Gulfsat has banned Iranian channels iFilm and Al-Kawthar under direct pressure from the European satellite company, Eutelsat.

The removal of the channels has been ordered to the Egyptian satellite communications firm, Nilesat, which is responsible for their coverage.

When contacted by Press TV, Eutelsat’s press officer refused to comment on the reason behind the decision which is a clear violation of freedom of speech.

The fresh encroachment upon freedom of speech targeting movie channel, iFilm, and Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Kawthar comes one day after Eutelsat, owned by Franco-Israeli Michel de Rosen, asked Nilesat to pull Press TV off the air.

On February 8, iFilm was removed from the Galaxy 19 satellite platform.

In December 2012, US intelligence analyst Gordon Duff told Press TV that the French-based satellite provider Eutelsat SA is a company whose agenda has been long dictated to it by Israeli extremist groups.

“Eutelsat is a person, not a company. Eutelsat says it is European, but it is actually Israeli. French sounding ‘Michel de Rosen’, an Israeli citizen, runs Eutelsat company with Israeli stockholders; a company long dictated to by extremist groups within Israel, [and] the militant ultra-nationalists of the Likudist regime of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” Duff added.