8 June 2005
Iran jams television to keep voters intact
- By Siavosh Ghazi
Tehran, June 7: Switch on your satellite television receiver in Tehran nowadays and something is amiss — "No Signal", the otherwise fuzzy television screen says for much of the day and night.
With presidential elections just over a week away, Islamic Iran’s technological guardians appear to be waging a war against enemies in the airwaves — Opposition-run television channels.
The problem, however, is that they may also be frying people’s brains. "Microwaves," explained an Iranian satellite television technician, who earns his keep by installing dishes even though they are technically banned.
"They’re jamming, and these signals used to block the satellites have never been so strong," said the dish man, who for obvious reasons preferred that he not be named.
Since Iran’s Islamic revolution 26 years ago, the regime has been fighting off what it calls "Westoxication".
But in recent years satellite dishes have mushroomed across the rooftops of the sprawling, smog-ridden capital.
Police and militiamen launch occasional crackdowns, but it is a losing battle. So instead they appear to be throwing out noise — blocking out 20 or so Opposition channels and their mix of heretical anti-regime chatter and saucy Persian pop videos.
"Day and night, the opposition radio and television stations keep calling on our people to boycott the election," fumed Ayatollah Mohammed Emami Kashani, a top cleric, in his Friday prayer sermon.
Eager to prevent a boycott of the polls — and therefore more questions being raised over how the ruling clergy mix Islam and democracy — the effort appears to be unprecedented. (AFP)