MP Expresses Ignorance About Arrests of Protesters Against Jamming in Shiraz

One of the representatives of Shiraz in the Parliament, while expressing ignorance about the arrest of several protesters against the issue of jamming in this city, announced that a committee has been formed to investigate the effects of jamming. Ali Akbari, in an interview with the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, on Wednesday, January 29, regarding the protests of the people of this city against jamming, said: "The jamming is not concerning, and a committee has been formed to examine the effects of this level of jamming as well." Mr. Akbari stated that "according to experts" the disruptions occurring in radio receivers are "due to changes and repairs in their infrastructure and not jamming." This representative from Shiraz announced that he, along with Masoud Rezaei, another representative from Shiraz in Parliament, have written letters to the Ministers of Interior and Health, as well as the Governor of Fars Province regarding the issue of jamming. The Shiraz representative also expressed ignorance about the arrest of several protesters against the issue of jamming in Shiraz. In recent weeks, some media and representatives from Shiraz in Parliament have reported "numerous headaches" and "disruptions" in the mobile phone and television networks in this city, with some websites attributing these incidents to the increase in jamming in the city. Meanwhile, Masoud Rezaei, a representative from Shiraz, on Sunday, January 12, called for explanations from the Ministers of Health and Communications and Information Technology regarding the cause of the increase in jamming waves in Shiraz, especially in the western part of the city, which, according to him, has put "the health of the people at risk and caused numerous headaches." Some residents of Shiraz protested against the increase in jamming in front of the Governor's office in Fars Province on January 20 and 28. During the protest on the 20th of January, Hadi Pajoohesh, the political-security deputy of the Fars Governorate, informed the protesters that the Governor of Fars has ordered the follow-up on this issue. Based on videos released from the protest on January 28, protesters were chanting, "Remove the jamming, IRGC." In these videos, it can be seen that law enforcement attacked several protesters and arrested them. However, law enforcement officials have not commented on the arrest of these individuals, and no reports have been published regarding their status. The jamming of satellites, aimed at preventing the reception of certain news and non-news networks outside Iran, began in the year 2001 and peaked in 2009 following widespread protests against the results of that year's presidential election, and it continues to this day. Since then, numerous reports have been published in Iranian media regarding the side effects of jamming on public health. In this context, Reza Malekzadeh, the Deputy for Research at the Ministry of Health, stated on January 2 that recent studies indicate that "waves and jamming have side effects and are effective in causing cancer." After the storm in June 2014 in Tehran, the Iranian Meteorological Organization reported to Parliament that it was unable to predict this storm due to the presence of jamming. In October of the same year, the Iranian Environmental Protection Agency, confirming the carcinogenic nature of jamming waves, requested the committee dealing with the status of jamming to use "other methods" to combat "cultural invasion." Meanwhile, the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, previously issued a resolution warning governments about jamming and requested regional cooperation to exchange information and assist in measuring waves and their impact on citizens' health. In this context, the Iranian Environmental Protection Agency is being "equipped" for the monitoring system of jamming.