US administration accuses Iran of radio jamming

The government-appointed body that oversees Voice of America and other U.S.-sponsored broadcasts has accused Iran of jamming radio and television programming in the GCC and the whole Middle East - amid protests in Iran over the Iranian currency crisis, which resulted from international sanctions on the oil, financial and trade sectors. Russia Today and other Arab and foreign news agencies reported The Broadcasting Board of Governors’ statement which condemned the “Iranians’ flagrant violation of the law governing world radio diffusion regulations”. The Broadcasting Board of Governors said on Thursday that the jamming is coming from inside Iran and violates international telecommunications regulations. It said the interference began on Wednesday and is affecting VOA's Persian service, along with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's and Farsi-language programming from Radio Farda. The jamming is also affecting the BBC, it said in a statement. The board said the jamming was affecting satellite transponders operated by the Paris-based European satellite Eutelsat and had blocked programming not only to Iran but also broadcasts aimed at people in Georgia, Armenia, Bosnia and Korea. Information Affairs Authority President Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa reported on September 20, 2012 more than 67 cases of jamming targeting the IAA bouquet channels over ten days. The IAA announced that it had successfully tested a new hi-tech anti-jamming system to ensure its bouquet of TV channels broadcast without interruption. The new system has been tested over two days and proved efficient, ensuring programmes are broadcast uninterrupted, especially during "peak jamming time," said IAA president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, said then, announcing legal and administrative measures to protect IAA commercial, financial and technical rights. Iran had blacklisted VOA and the BCC and foreign radio stations since 2010 and considered them as “enemy organisations that support the Iranian opposition and incited on unrest inside Iran”.