Iran's Environmental Organization to be Equipped with Monitoring System for Jamming Signals

Masoumeh Ebtekar, head of Iran's Environmental Organization, announced on Sunday, April 30, that the organization will be equipped with a "monitoring and oversight system for jamming signals." According to reports, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, had instructed the ministers of communications, health, and social welfare, as well as the heads of the Environmental and Atomic Energy Organizations, to investigate the harms of jamming signals back in November 2014. On Sunday, Ebtekar stated that the Environmental Protection Organization had not been equipped with the necessary tools since the "determination of responsibilities" for monitoring and measuring jamming signals. She added, "A series of actions have been taken to provide reports to the organization, and we hope the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will cooperate in this regard." Ebtekar emphasized, "We have asked the Minister of Communications to set a time for a meeting to review and follow up on the status of jamming signals, which we hope will be held as soon as possible." The head of the Environmental Organization did not mention details of the actions taken to provide reports to the organization. Mahmoud Vaezi, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, reported on December 9, 2014, that a joint report from five ministries and government organizations regarding jamming signals had been sent to Hassan Rouhani, stating that part of the jamming signals "is not under the supervision" of this ministry. Numerous reports have been published in Iranian media regarding the side effects of jamming signals. Saeed Motasaddi, the Deputy for Human Environment at the Environmental Protection Organization, confirmed on October 2, 2014, that jamming waves were "cancerous" and requested the committee addressing the status of jamming signals to use "other methods" to counter what this organization calls "cultural invasion." Mostafa Torkhamdani, a lawyer, also reported in November of last year that he had filed a complaint regarding the harmfulness of jamming signals, and the Tehran prosecutor's office had issued an order to address his complaint. Meanwhile, after the storm in June 2014 in Tehran, which caused significant damage, the Iranian Meteorological Organization reported to the Islamic Consultative Assembly that it could not predict the storm due to jamming signals. Since then, officials from the Meteorological Organization have repeatedly emphasized that "jamming signals" continue to hinder accurate detection in the organization. The transmission of jamming signals to satellites to prevent the reception of certain networks by the public has been ongoing since 2001 by the Islamic Republic. The International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, issued a warning resolution at its conference last year in Busan, South Korea, urging member states to adhere to technical restrictions and standards approved for the emission of electromagnetic waves concerning public health.