US Seizes Iranian State News Websites

Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2021 ) :US Justice Department said Wednesday it had seized 33 Iranian government-controlled media websites, as well as three of the Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah, which it said were hosted on US-owned domains in violation of sanctions.

Visitors to leading Iranian media sites like Press tv and Al-Alam, the country's main English language and Arabic language broadcasters, as well as the Al-Masirah TV channel of Yemen's Huthis, were met with single-page statements declaring the website "has been seized by the United States Government" accompanied by the seals of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Commerce Department.

The 33 websites were held by the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU), itself controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC).

Both IRTVU and IRGC have been placed on the US sanctions blacklist, making it illegal for Americans, US companies, and foreign or non-American companies with US subsidiaries to have business with them or their subsidiaries.

Kataeb Hezbollah, the Iraqi group which owned three sites that were seized, is a hardline military faction with close ties to Tehran that Washington has formally designated a terror group.

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the immediate parent of Al-Alam, reported that other web domains, including Palestine-Al Youm, a Palestinian-directed broadcaster, and an Arabic-language religious and cultural channel were among those seized.

Bahrain's LuaLua TV, a channel run by opposition groups with offices in London and Beirut, was also frozen by the United States, according to an AFP correspondent in the region.

IRIB accused the United States of repressing freedom of expression and joining forces with Israel and Saudi Arabia "to block pro-resistance media outlets exposing the crimes of US allies in the region." On the website of their political wing, the Huthi branded the action "American piracy and copyright confiscation." "The government of the United States of America is banning the Al-Masirah website without any justification or even prior notice," they said.

A-Masirah quickly established a new website, using its name but swapping the .net domain for .com.

Meanwhile LuaLua and Al-Masirah continued to broadcast new programs, AFP journalists said.