[News] US seizes Iranian websites under unclear circumstances

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 US seizes Iranian websites under unclear circumstances

June 23, 2021 - https://qudsnen.co/?p=26387

Washington (QNN)- US authorities seized about three dozen Iranian websites
on Tuesday, including state-run news outlets, under unclear circumstances
on Tuesday, the U.S. and Iran said.

A US official told the Associated Press that the majority of websites were
linked to Iranian “disinformation” efforts.

The Justice Department said 33 of the seized websites were used by the
Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union, which was singled out by the
U.S. government last October for what officials described as efforts to
spread disinformation and sow discord among American voters ahead of the
2020 presidential election.

The U.S. says three other seized websites were operated by the Iraqi Shiite
paramilitary group, Kata’ib Hezballah.

The website domains are owned by U.S. companies, but despite the sanctions,
neither the IRTVU nor KH obtained the required licenses from the U.S.
government before using the domain names, according to the Justice
Department.

The Justice Department announcement came hours after the Iranian state-run
news agency IRNA revealed the U.S. government seizures without providing
further information.

The takedowns come as world powers scramble to resurrect Tehran’s tattered
2015 nuclear deal and just days after the election victory of Iran’s
hard-line judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi.

The U.S. government also took over the domain name of the news website
Palestine Today, which reflects the viewpoints of Gaza-based groups Hamas
and Islamic Jihad, redirecting the site to the same notice.

Press TV, launched in June 2007, is the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting’s English-language service. Its Iran-based website,
PressTV.ir, was not affected.

In what seems to be a coordinated action, a similar message appears on the
websites of Iranian and regional television networks that claims the
domains of the websites have been “seized by the United States Government.”
pic.twitter.com/JloU56LvpL <https://t.co/JloU56LvpL>

— Press TV (@PressTV) June 22, 2021
<https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1407406310824550401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Most of the domains seized appeared to be “.net,” “.com” and “.tv” domains.

The first two are generic top-level domains as opposed to country-specific
domains, while “.tv” is owned by the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu but
administered by the U.S. company Verisign.

It’s not the first time that the U.S. has seized domain names of sites it
accuses of spreading disinformation.

Last October, the Department of Justice announced the takedown of nearly
100 websites linked to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard. The U.S. said
the sites, operating under the guise of genuine news outlets, were waging a
“global disinformation campaign” to influence U.S. policy and push Iranian
propaganda around the world.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20210623/65574c6c/attachment.htm>