WarSclerotic

Satcasters pull Iranian channel off the air

By ALI JAAFAR

Earlier this November, Iran's state-funded Arabic-language news channel Al-Alam — Arabic for “the world” — was suddenly yanked off Nilesat and Arabsat, two major Arab satcasting platforms.

Nilesat, which is majority-owned by the Egyptian government, and Arabsat, a joint venture between all Arab states but with a majority share from Saudi Arabia, are the two most important satellite platforms in the Middle East.

The satcasters' move, which provoked condemnation from the Iranian government, deprives Iran of a valuable tool in the ongoing battle for the hearts and minds in the region. Iran and its allies — namely Syria and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — have been locked in a regional power struggle with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies in recent years.

The hostility can go both ways.

Al-Arabiya, which is Saudi-owned and is the most-watched pan-Arab satellite news channels alongside rival Al-Jazeera, had its Tehran offices closed down by Iranian officials in June after the channel covered the anti-government protests that broke out following the disputed presidential elections.

The politico's family and much of the Egyptian film biz labeled Sadat a “traitor” for signing the 1979 peace deal with Israel, and celebrated his killer Khaled Istambouli as a martyr.

The move against Al-Alam comes against a backdrop of escalating tensions between Iran and some Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

In Yemen, for example, the government is locked in a vicious internecine battle with Houthi rebels in the country's northern regions.

Saudia Arabia and the Yemeni government have accused Iran's government of aiding the Houthi rebels, who are, like the majority of Iranians, of the Shia faith. Iranian officials in turn have accused Saudi Arabia of backing the Yemeni government's counterinsurgent campaign. Matters came to a head earlier this month when a Houthi-backed mission crossed the Saudi border and killed a Saudi official. A series of other events in recent weeks — such as the expulsion of dozens of Lebanese Shias from the United Arab Emirates as well as a bomb attack in Iran that targeted members of the country's Revolutionary Guards — have set relations between the two sides on edge, and the media is finding itself caught in the middle.

“You have Egypt, Saudi Arabia and their allies on one side with Iran and their allies on the other side and the media dancing in between,” says Al-Rached. “I don't know how the media war can escalate anymore given that it is so tense already. It reflects the situation on the ground.”

via Mideast hostilities on air – Entertainment News, International News, Media – Variety.

This entry was posted on November 16, 2009 at 6:59 AM and is filed under Iran / Israel War. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.