Reporters Without Borders condemns Iranian parliament's plan to ban publication of news by some foreign media outlets

Reporters Without Borders condemned the Islamic Consultative Assembly's plan to ban American and British journalists from entering Iran and the publication of news by some Western media outlets, and called for its withdrawal.

On Monday, May 10, the media freedom advocacy organization released a statement calling the plan an escalation of censorship in the field of information, stating that "today, foreign media reporters in Iran are under the surveillance of Islamic Republic officials from the moment they enter the country, and in order to remain in Iran, they face a form of censorship in their reporting so that they do not go beyond the official lines drawn by the government."

41 members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have recently prepared and drafted a plan that would ban American and British media reporters who, according to the members, "support sanctions" against Iran from entering the country.

The plan emphasizes that domestic media outlets are not allowed to publish news from these outlets, and violators will face 5 to 10 years in prison and a fine.

Reza Moeini, head of the Iran and Afghanistan office of Reporters Without Borders, says that this plan "has no validity" even according to the laws of the Islamic Republic and is a "ridiculous" plan, because in the world we all live in, these media outlets cannot be eliminated.

According to him, this plan would also be a "threat against Persian-language media abroad," which "are the main sources of free and independent information for Iranians."

Mr. Moeini finally said: "We demand the withdrawal of this bill, which adds to the anti-freedom policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

This group of representatives' efforts to further restrict media freedom in Iran come at a time when, in the latest ranking of countries in the field of media freedom by Reporters Without Borders, Iran has fallen one place compared to the previous year, ranking 174th out of 180 countries in the world.

Source: Radio Farda