Iran accuses Al-Jazeera of sparking protests
Iran has suspended operations of Arab TV broadcaster Al-Jazeera throughout the country, accusing it of inflaming violent protests by the Arab minority in the south west.
The government said two more protesters died in the unrest, bringing the three-day toll to three dead and at least eight injured in Khuzistan province on Iran’s border with Iraq.
Al-Jazeera, which is popular among Iran’s Arab-speaking minority, is believed to have been the first to broadcast news of the unrest. The station’s commentators discussed the clashes on talk shows as well.
Tehran yesterday ordered the station to cease operations until the network explained the motives behind its coverage.
“If it is proved that Al-Jazeera committed a crime, it will be prosecuted,” Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, an official at Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, said.
“We suspended its activity in Iran to investigate the network’s role in unrest in Ahvaz. We expect the network to respect Iran’s national integrity and security.”
Jihad Ballout, an Al-Jazeera spokesman in Doha, Qatar, said he had heard media reports of the ban but the station had not yet received official notification.
The station, owned by the Qatari government since its start in 1996, is believed to have the Arab world’s biggest market share, estimated at 35 million people. Few people in Farsi-speaking Iran watch Al-Jazeera.
Arabs make up just 3% of Iran’s population; Persians account for 51% of the 69 million citizens.
Al-Jazeera called Tehran’s action ”unexpected and unwarranted” and called on the government to reconsider the ban. The station would “continue to cover Iranian affairs objectively”, said Jihad Ballout, an Al-Jazeera spokesman at the station’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
