Iran Accused of Jamming Satellites

By Jack Phillips  Epoch Times Staff   Iran has started jamming international broadcasting into the country,

said a U.S.-based independent broadcasting agency.   The Broadcasting Board of Governors said the jamming is likely in connection with recent protests in the country.   Scores of Iranians have held demonstrations, and business owners have closed their operations to protest the declining value of the rial currency.   “The jamming of news delivered by satellite into Iran is an outrage, a deplorable violation of well-established international agreements,” said International Broadcasting Bureau Director Richard M. Lobo in a statement.   “Freedom of information is a universal human right as well as an essential component for the health of any nation.”   The jamming has not only affected U.S. broadcasts carried by the Eutelsat satellites, but also Georgian, Armenian, and Balkan-language broadcasts. Voice of America’s Persian broadcasts and U.S.-owned Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Radio Farda were affected, the Board said.   International regulations prohibit interfering with broadcast signals, also known as “jamming.”   VOA and RFE said that sometimes the interference begins as their newscasts start and ends after they stop.   In January also, the broadcasting agency reported Iran was jamming signals.