Amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, American authorities today seized a range of Iranian news websites which are currently accused of spreading disinformation. That move is now believed to be a far-reaching crackdown on Iranian media and a further escalation in tensions between the two countries.
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The United States appears to have smelled blood, and is now moving in for the kill. The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday that the United States seized 33 Iranian news websites used by Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union, accusing them of spreading disinformation and being obsessed with sowing discord among American voters ahead of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.
Meantime, three other seized website are said to have been operated by the Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group and other groups which, more than a decade ago, was designated a foreign terrorist organisation.
Despite the fact that the website domains are owned by American companies, neither of the aforementioned Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union obtained the required licences from the U.S. government before using the domain names.
The announcement came just hours after the Iranian state-run news agency, better known as IRNA, reported the U.S. government seizures.
Last October, the Department of Justice also announced the takedown of nearly 100 website related to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Washington said, camouflaged as news outlets, those websites were intended to launch a global disinformation campaign, aimed at influencing U.S. policy and push Iranian political propaganda around the world.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from Tehran’s nuclear deal and the return of serious sanctions on Iran revealed that Trump was determined to lock horns with Iran, and hell-bent on curtailing Iran’s nuclear and missile ambitions. Since then, relations between Iran and the U.S. have deteriorated as the U.S.’ sanctions on Iran literally exacerbated the country’s heavily-sanctioned predicament.
Fierce criticisms of British and American foreign policy would only escalate tensions between the U.S. and Iran, and Iranian state-owned news network, Press TV’s documentary shows are cases in point. While airing in Iran, Press TV focuses mainly on international affairs, and criticisms about British and American foreign policy frequently predominate its documentary shows.
The U.S.’ latest move is considered a strong warning to Tehran.
Meantime, top diplomats said on Sunday that further progress had been made at nuclear talks between Iran and global powers in Vienna. The talks were wrapped up on Sunday, and it is now up to the governments involved in the negotiations to make political decisions.
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