U.S. seizes websites used by Iranian radio and television -Justice Department

Record ID: 1623002

  • Title: U.S. seizes websites used by Iranian radio and television -Justice Department
  • Date: 23rd June 2021
  • Summary: INTERNET (JUNE 22, 2021) (REUTERS) (MUTE) GRAPHIC ON PRESS TV WEBSITE SAYING IT HAS BEEN SEIZED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
  • Embargoed: 7th July 2021 01:53
  • Keywords: Department of Justice Iran U.S. USA intern statement websites
  • Location: INTERNET
  • City: INTERNET
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA002EIMFTC7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS SHOTS FROM 2212-USA-IRAN/INTERNET
    The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday (June 22) it seized 36 Iranian-linked websites, many of them associated with either disinformation activities or violent organizations, taking them offline for violating U.S. sanctions.
    Several of the sites were back online within hours with new domain addresses.
    "Today, pursuant to court orders, the United States seized 33 websites used by the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU) and three websites operated by Kata’ib Hizballah (KH), in violation of U.S. sanctions," the department said in a statement.
    Also spelled Kataib Hezbollah, KH is one of the main Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups and has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States.
    The sites seized included Press TV, the Iranian government's main English-language satellite television channel, and Al Alam, its Arabic-language equivalent. Both came back online using Iranian domain addresses Alalam.ir and Presstv.ir.
    The Justice Department said the 33 domains used by IRTVU are owned by a United States company and that IRTVU did not obtain a license from Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control prior to utilizing the domain names.
    KH also did not obtain a license.
    Notices appeared earlier on Tuesday on a number of Iran-affiliated websites saying they had been seized by the United States government as part of law enforcement action.
    Iranian news agencies said the U.S. government had seized several Iranian media websites and sites belonging to groups affiliated with Iran such as Yemen's Houthi movement.
    (Production: Tara Oakes)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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