
Stop jamming satellites
EU foreign ministers have promised to "act"
against the Iranian state's unacceptable jamming of satellite broadcasts and
Internet controls.
The EU is getting more miffed with Tehran, mostly because
it is sticking two fingers at them over nuclear weapons. However the latest stiff letter from the EU "calls
on the Iranian authorities to stop the jamming of satellite broadcasting and
Internet censorship and to put an end to this electronic interference
immediately."
It said that the EU was "determined to pursue these
issues and to act with a view to put an end to this unacceptable
situation." Iran has cracked down on the media and locked up hacks since
anti-government protests erupted after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed
re-election last June. The Islamic regime created communications blackouts,
targeting the BBC's Persian-language broadcasts among others.
More than 70 foreign radio and television stations that
transmit via the Eutelsat satellite to Iran were jammed on February 11, the
31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Iranians' text messages were also being intercepted by
the authorities in Tehran. Britain, France and Germany asked the EU bloc last week
to take measures to curb Iran's ability to censor domestic opposition and to
jam foreign satellite broadcasts, although Monday's statement gave no
indication how Brussels might proceed towards that aim.
However it is a little strange that they do not see
Chinese censorship as a problem. The UK seems to think that spying on its own
people is ok.