Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya satellite channel should be dealt with forcefully because of its so-called “opposition campaigns,” an Iranian lawmaker said on Sunday.
MP Jawwad Jahangirzadeh, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Relations Commission, said Iran could not remain silent, and that “negative” steps should be taken against the channel.
The Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry should take a clear stance towards the channel’s recent behavior, Zadeh told the Islamic republic news agency.
Jahngirzadeh referred to a recent report aired by the channel about Founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini, but did not say what it was about the broadcast that Tehran found offensive.
He said it was wrong that a news channel should broadcast opposition campaigns against a country’s honor, and then be flexible with them,.
The lawmaker suggested the channel’s offices in Iran be closed down and its employees’ activities restricted.
Al-Arabiya broadcasts out of the United Arab Emirates and is a pan-Arab channel airing to the Middle East. The channel started broadcasting in 2003 and is one of Al-Jazeera’s fiercest rivals.
When asked about censorship measures that could be taken against Al-Arabiya, the lawmaker said the parliament would spare nothing in defending Imam Khomeini and the current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.
However, if a bill were presented to parliament on this matter, it would take a long time for the bill to go through, he stated.
