Member of Parliament: No Country Uses Jamming Signals as Much as Iran

An Iranian member of parliament emphasized that "no country in the world" uses jamming signals as much as Iran, stating that "none of the organizations responsible for broadcasting jamming signals" have provided satisfactory explanations to the parliament. Abad Fattahi, a member of the Health and Treatment Commission of the Parliament, said on Wednesday, December 3, to the news website "Aftab": "I don't think any country in the world uses jamming signals as much as Iran." He added: "The parliament has held meetings with all organizations that broadcast jamming signals and has requested explanations from all of them, but none of these organizations have provided satisfactory explanations to the parliament." So far, no official report has been published regarding the organizations responsible for broadcasting jamming signals in Iran, but some human rights organizations and opponents of the Islamic Republic have accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting of involvement in sending jamming signals. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, on July 27, referred to instances of "human rights violations" by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, such as "sending jamming signals, broadcasting forced confessions, and continuous censorship," and called for the extension of sanctions against this organization by the United States. According to this human rights organization, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting currently does not directly send jamming signals to the satellites that are broadcasting programs, but "compensates for this halt by intensifying the sending of jamming signals to local satellite wave receivers," which are generally satellite dishes on the roofs of houses. Masoumeh Ebtekar, head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, emphasized on December 19 that "the area of broadcasting jamming signals... does not have a governmental origin." Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, also stated on November 30 that "some parts of the broadcasting of jamming signals are not under our (government) supervision." Mr. Fattahi further stated: "No one takes responsibility for pursuing the cessation of jamming signals under the assumption that they are harmful to the public." The representative from Urmia in Parliament said: "The sending of jamming signals continues, and there is no research center in the country working on it to determine whether the harms mentioned actually exist or not." Saeed Motasaddi, deputy of human environment at the Environmental Protection Organization, confirmed on October 2 that the waves of jamming signals are "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 that he had filed a complaint regarding the harmfulness of jamming signals and stated that the Tehran prosecutor's office had issued an order to investigate his complaint. Numerous reports regarding the side effects of jamming signals have been published in Iranian media. After the storm in Tehran in June, 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. Officials from the Meteorological Organization have repeatedly emphasized in recent months that "jamming signals" continue to hinder accurate detection in the Meteorological Organization. A month ago, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, instructed the ministers of communications, health, and social welfare, as well as the heads of the two organizations of environmental protection and atomic energy, to investigate the status of the jamming signals being sent. The sending of jamming signals on 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, in its recent conference in Busan, South Korea, issued a warning resolution urging its member states to adhere to technical restrictions and standards that have been approved for the broadcasting of electromagnetic waves concerning public health.