|
Teheran: As the Iranian government cracks down
on communication modes following its disputed
presidential election, Christian satellite channels have
been among its victims.
Terry Ascott, CEO of SAT-7 International, said many
satellite channels, including the Christian channel,
have been affected by the government crackdown. What is
“strange,” he noted, is that the government has found a
way to block channels beaming into Iran without jamming
satellites that would affect the entire Middle East.
“Somehow they have developed a new technology to simply
and simultaneously block access to multiple channels in
the major cities which is the first time we have seen
such a thing,” Ascott told The Christian Post on July
10, 2009.
Since the presidential elections on June 12, Iran's
government has restricted cell phone and satellite
signals in an effort to stop its citizens from
organizing demonstrations against hardliner Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
The Iranian government and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei have declared Ahmadinejad the valid re-elected
president of Iran. But a mass number of citizens have
refused to believe the election results are valid,
arguing that pro-reform opposition leader Mir Hossein
Mousavi is the true elected leader of the country.
Following the announcement of Ahmadinejad's victory,
massive demonstrations have taken place on the streets
of Tehran and elsewhere in the country. Even this week,
nearly a month after the election, Iranian citizens
continue to organize street protests against Ahmadinejad.
Last month's demonstrations have numbered tens of
thousands, but more recent protests are estimated to
number in the thousands. Media agencies have said it is
hard to know exactly how many protesters there are
because Iranian authorities have banned reporters from
leaving their offices to cover the demonstrations.
Other than blocking satellite TV, the Iranian government
has also closed down access to much of the Internet and
the use of text messaging, Ascott said.
But the SAT-7 founder noted that satellite TV is not
jammed 24/7 and sometimes Iranians are able to catch
programs. “People caught up in this kind of change are,
perhaps, more open than ever to the Gospel of Christ,”
he said to Mission Network News.
But at the present time there is nothing anyone can do
to overcome the satellite problem, the founder of the
Christian satellite channel for the Middle East
admitted. SAT-7 was founded in 1995 and aired its first
broadcast in May 1996. The satellite TV ministry has
been working to present a more accurate image of
Christianity in the Arab world, where people often
associate Christians with negative images from the
Western world. Each week, between nine and ten million
people tune into the network, whose programs are
broadcast in three languages Arabic, Farsi and Turkish.
|
