Freedom of press and expression, highly cherished by the western governments, will deprive Iranian fans in Europe from watching their National football team matches. Millions of Iranian expatriates living in Europe will be unable to watch Iranian TV after the European satellite provider Eutelsat SA stopped the broadcast of all Iranian satellite channels following an order by the European Commission..

The company ordered media services company, Arqiva, to take the Iranian satellite channels off one of its Hot Bird frequencies on Monday. Arqiva said that the decision was made by the EU Council.

“We terminated the contracts because it was the order of the European Commission. We have to follow it,” Karen Badalov, area management of Eutelsat SA told Press TV.

Meanwhile, Head of Public Relations of Arqiva, Gary Follows, told Press TV that as a result of reinforced EU Council sanctions and repeated requests by France’s broadcasting authority for the permanent switch-off of Sahar 1, which is broadcast in the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) multiplex, the IRIB broadcasts through Eutelsat Hot Bird have been terminated.

The Iranian channels being taken off the air include Press TV, al-Alam, Jam-e-Jam 1 and 2, which broadcasts football matches and other Iranian sport events.

The decision follows months of jamming of Iranian channels by European satellite companies.

The politically motivated move to block Iran’s TV is part of American and British lead effort to isolate Iran as a result of claims that the Islamic Republic is developing nuclear weapon. While the British Foreign Minister, commenting to the BBC Persian Service on the latest European sanctions ,  claims that all sanctions against Iran is targeted at the government , it is really difficult to believe how depriving Iranian expatriates from watching events such as televised Football match can hurt the Iranian government and influence the policies , while not harming the ordinary Iranian abroad!

While freedom of expression and the freedom of Press is vehemently practiced and promoted by the west and forms a fundamental pillar of democracy in those countries , to the extent that they pour their wrath on foreign governments who do not respect these rights , it is ironic that the same western government block the opposing Iranian views.

The end result of this political game is Millions of very disappointed Iranians expatriates in Europe. The Iranians ate well known for their great passion towards football and particularly Team Melli.