Arqiva

On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded the British telecommunications company Arqiva, and European Satellite provider Eutelsat, for taking 19 Iranian television and radio stations off the European airways, effective today. (10/15/2012)

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"Satellite provider Eutelsat agreed with media services company Arqiva to block the Irib channels as of Monday morning because of 'reinforced EU council sanctions' Eutelsat spokeswoman Vanessa O'Connor said. Irib's access to Eutelsat was via a contract with Arqiva." (Fox News, "European satellite provider cuts off 19 Iranian TV and radio stations because of EU sanctions," 10/15/2012)

"Iran uses international companies to provide the infrastructure for its broadcasting and telecoms services, even as it ramps up its attempts to prevent civilian Internet use and jams broadcasts from international news networks, including the Voice of America and BBC Persian.

Arqiva facilitates the regime-controlled IRIB’s Persian television transmissions as well as its English-language outlet Press TV and Al-Alam in Arabic, according to UANI…In a recent letter to Arqiva, UANI president Kristen Silverberg warned the British company that it could run afoul of recent US sanctions legislation if it continues to provide services to IRIB. The most recent legislation, passed in April, sanctions entities that have sold or provided goods, services or technologies to Iran or Syria likely to be used to facilitate computer or network disruption, monitoring or tracking.

The pressure group also accused Arqiva of acting contrary to the position on Iran of the British government, which opposes human rights abuses.

'By facilitating IRIB’s broadcast of libelous programs and hate speech against religious minorities, forced confessions of peaceful dissidents and civil society activists, and “show trials” of political prisoners, Arqiva is serving to further the Iranian regime’s campaign of persecution and repression against its own citizens,' Silverberg wrote." (The Jerusalem Post, "UK firm ‘facilitating Iran’s human rights abuses'," 6/14/12)

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"European satellite companies like Eutelsat, Intelsat and Arqiva provide extensive services to the Iranian state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), including for domestic Iranian radio and television broadcasts, and for Iran's growing list of foreign-language channels, like the English-language PressTV and the Arabic Al-Alam... It has not stopped carrying IRIB channels on its satellites, which are facilitated through Arqiva, even though the Iranian government is effectively destroying the products of its other clients... Over the past two years, during which Iran increased its jamming of Persian-language broadcasts from abroad, Eutelsat and Arqiva have done little to hold the Iranian government accountable." (The Wall Street Journal, "Broadcasting Tehran's Repression," 12/9/2011)