European Satellite Company Pulls Out of Iran

19 television and radio channels will go off the air

One of Europe's leading satellite providers on Monday said it would terminate its contract with Iran's broadcast company, IRIB, immediately pulling 19 state-owned television and radio channels off the air.

Viewers in the Middle East, Iran's main cornerstone of influence, and Europe, as well as those inside Iran who accessed the channels through the popular Hotbird satellite, no longer have access to the channels.

Eutelsat Communications SA said it stopped broadcasting the Iranian channels in light of European sanctions approved in March and a French regulatory decision. The move comes a little over a week after Iran escalated the jamming of Eutelsat satellites to censor broadcasts during recent protests over a plunge in the local currency.