Iran To File Lawsuit Against Spain For Banning Hispan TV

Madrid, Feb 2, IRNA -- Iranˈs Ambassador to Spain Morteza Saffari called taking off the air of Iranˈs Spanish-language channel Hispan TV as illegal and declared that Iran is officially going to refer the case to a qualified court. He made the remarks in a press conference in Madrid on Friday. ˈBanning the Iranian channels, Press TV and Hispan TV in Europe (including Spain) is a sign of the West’s paradoxical approach in its alleged defense of freedom of speech.” Pointing to the role of Zionist elements behind the prohibition of Iranian channels in Spain, the envoy cautioned the Spain government about the interference of questionable hands in bilateral relations of Tehran and Madrid, including the trade exchange between the two capitals. “Recent invitation of MKO terrorist group high-ranking elements to Spain demonstrates Madridˈs paradoxical approach towards various issues, including terrorism,” Saffari said. This is not the first time that Iran’s media are being targeted. Hispan TV, along with Iranˈs 24-hour English-language news channel Press TV, have been already targeted by Hispasatˈs fellow European satellite providers Eutelsat and Hotbird. The ban on Press TV and Hispan TV in Spain followed a similar move by Franceˈs Eutelsat Company, which had already taken several Iranian satellite channels and radio stations off the air, claiming that the channels were removed because of “a wider interpretation of EU regulations.” Hispasat is partly owned by Eutelsat, whose French-Israeli CEO is blamed for the recent wave of attacks on Iranian media in Europe. Eutelsat SA and Intelsat SA, which stopped the broadcast of several Iranian satellite channels in October, 2012, have cited pressure by the European Union as the main reason. The EU has, however, denied the claims by the European satellite companies. In response to a question about Iran and G5+1 talks, Iranian ambassador to Madrid noted that western sanctions against Tehran are illegal, unjust and will not make fruitful results. “Politicization of Iran’s nuclear issue by the West impedes the progress of nuclear negotiations; West hostility towards Iran roots in Islamic Republic’s anti-imperialist identity,ˈ Saffari noted. In attempts to impede Iran’s progress, Washington and its western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Despite the rules enshrined in the NPT entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down Westˈs calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment. Tehran has dismissed West’s demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians’ national resolve to continue the path. Political observers believe that the United States has remained at loggerheads with Iran mainly over the independent and home-grown nature of Tehran’s nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for the other Third World countries. Washington has laid much pressure on Iran to make it give up the most sensitive and advanced part of the technology, which is uranium enrichment, a process used for producing nuclear fuel for power plants./end