Iran to launch English TV channel today

Iran's state broadcaster, IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) will today launch Press TV, its English-language satellite TV channel, as international tension about the country's nuclear programme mounts.

The 24-hour channel is meant to 'break the global media stranglehold of western outlets,' and 'show the other side of the story' in the Middle East.

Mohammad Sarafraz, vice president of IRIB, stated in a press conference in Tehran last week that the English-language news channel was set up ‘to counteract the lies of the western media'. He accused the US government of using the September 11 attacks to legitimise its invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq under the pretext of combating terrorism, and stated that Press TV would show the world another point of view.

The Tehran-based channel will air half-hour news bulletins, talk shows from Damascus, New York and Washington as well as documentaries on different aspects of the Islamic world and culture.

The channel, which has a total of more than 400 staff, says it has 26 reporters employed at different locations worldwide, including Jerusalem, Gaza City and Ramallah on the occupied West Bank as well as New York and Washington.

Press TV will compete with channels like the BBC and Al Jazeera International.

IRIB is no newcomer to the international market. In fact, its Arabic-language news channel, Al-Alam, is popular among Shiite Muslims in Lebanon and across the border in Iraq for its slick programming. IRIB also runs Jam-e Jam, which broadcasts Persian-language programmes to Iranians living outside Iran, and the Arabic Al-Kawthar which broadcasts a mix of news, religious talk shows and Iranian soap operas dubbed into Arabic.

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READERS' COMMENTS

This could be a new begining
Posted by Abdulla on Monday 2 July 2007 at 20:00 UAE time


Excellent news, finally a news channel with a different point of view. Away from hegemony of the neo-cons.

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