Resistance-centered multimedia websites blocked or possibly banned by the US
A photo posted on the websites of some media outlets affiliated with the resistance claims that the US government has blocked several websites belonging to the Axis of Resistance, including Al-Alam, Prestivi Network, and Al-Masira.
Officials seized the domains of about three dozen websites just days after Iran elected a new, hard-line president, and at a critical moment in nuclear negotiations.
The Biden administration blocked access on Tuesday to several dozen websites linked to Iran, American and Iranian officials said, just as negotiations to bring the United States and Tehran back into an international nuclear accord appeared to be nearing a final decision.
On Tuesday evening, a photo was posted on the website of several media outlets belonging to the resistance movement, including Al-Alam, Al-Masira, and Prestiwi, which the US government claims have been blocked.
Surveys show that in addition to Al-Alam, Al-Masira, and Prestivi websites, several websites belonging to the resistance movement, including Al-Malumah in Iraq, may have been taken down.
The image posted on the websites to announce the blocking of the media cited laws to justify the move, which allows the US government to use the assets of entities involved in “trafficking in technologies, nuclear materials, weapons, chemical, biological and radiological, or involved in Confiscate the manufacture, import, sale or distribution of illegal substances.
The US government has not yet issued a statement explaining the matter. For this reason, a complete list of blocked media is not yet available, and additional news will be announced.
Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in response to a question that he could not comment on the matter but that he thought the Justice Department would comment soon.
In a statement posted on its Telegram channel, Al-Alam referred to the restrictions imposed by Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube in recent years, but wrote: “It is not yet clear whether this is aimed at the US government or hackers with specific goals.”
In an interview with the Associated Press, Marzieh Hashemi, the host of the Prestivi network, said that she was aware of the blocking of the media website but did not have further information. “We are trying to understand what this means,” he said.
Al-Masira also blocked the network’s website in a statement said by the US government without prior notice. The network stated that this action once again proves the falsity of US claims about freedom of expression.
The Associated Press, meanwhile, declined to comment immediately, according to a Justice Department spokesman. However, two US government officials said the Department of Justice was preparing a statement on the matter.
The United States had previously blocked Fars News Agency’s .com domain in February 2017. An e-mail sent to Fars News Agency by the domain’s international service provider at the time explicitly stated that the reason for the illegal blockade was “instructions from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the agency’s inclusion in the SDN list.”
In addition, in September 1999, the US government announced that it had blocked three websites used by companies involved in the transfer of Iranian oil to Venezuela.
“The US Department of Justice has announced that it has seized three websites used by three fictitious companies. “These companies include Mobin International, Sohar Fuel, and Oman Fuel.”
The front page of the companies’ website states that their domains have been banned by a Colombian district court ruling.
One U.S. national security official said the websites, about three dozen in all, were linked to disinformation efforts by Iran and other groups backed by Tehran. A few involved terrorist organizations that targeted coalition forces stationed overseas, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the operation before it was announced.
The spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations, Shahrokh Nazemi, said the United States was trying to muzzle free speech.
“While rejecting this illegal and bullying action, which is an attempt at limiting the freedom of expression, the issue will be pursued through legal channels,” Mr. Nazemi said.
The semiofficial Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, accused the American government on Tuesday of targeting websites that belonged to the so-called axis of resistance — how Tehran and its allies describe proxy militia groups in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria that receive training and funding from Iran.
