Iran media targeted by US lawmakers, foreign terrorists in Syria

Iranian media have come under simultaneous attacks by the militants in Syria and the lawmakers in the United States, Press TV reports.

On Friday, the US Senate approved a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear energy program.

The new embargoes against Iran’s energy, port, shipping and shipbuilding sectors, also imposed restrictions on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and its chief, Ezzatollah Zarghami.

The ratification is meant to block all the IRIB assets and prevent others from doing business with it.

Pundits say the sanctions against the IRIB are another attempt by the West to silence Iranian and alternative media.

Earlier on Friday, two young men who were caught on camera, approached a SNG vehicle belonging to Press TV and Al-Alam television networks in the Syrian capital, Damascus. One of them quickly attached an explosive device to the bottom the truck near Press TV’s office and ran away.

The bomb exploded but no one was hurt as a result of the blast. Several other vehicles surrounding the area were also damaged.

“We were monitoring the situation with the cameras when two men came near the SNG vehicle. We rushed downstairs, but they detonated the device before we reached the vehicle,” said security officer Mehdi Shams.

Security personnel dismantled another explosive device with 10 kilograms of highly-explosive material planted at the entrance of Press TV’s office building.

The attack came following a series of death threats against the chief of Press TV and Al-Alam at Damascus Bureau Hosein Mortada.

“They want to silence the Iranian media because it conveys the existing realities. Speaking of truth does not serve foreign-backed militants here who have threatened us many times. I reaffirm our resolve to continue our job professionally despite what is happening,” Mortada said.

On September 26, militants in Damascus attacked Press TV staff, killing the Iranian English-language news network’s correspondent Maya Naser, and injuring Mortada.

“There are a lot of forces at work in order to suppress Press TV and alternative media in order to do a media management and channel the information that is streaming out of Syria,” said Kaveh Afrasiabi, an author and political scientist.

“The US [has] a long history of self-contradiction, because, obviously, a country that claims to be the progeny of democracy and pluralism should have tolerance for alternative sources of media,” he pointed out.

In a flagrant violation of the freedom of speech, two satellite providers Eutelsat SA and Intelsat SA stopped the broadcast of several Iranian satellite channels in October, citing pressure by the European Union.

Earlier this month, the Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) also took all Iranian channels off air in East Asia under pressure from the US.