After years of struggle to impede the operations of Iran's English news channel, Britain did all it could to make Press TV to disappear from the country's television screens for questionable reasons.
Since its launch in 2007, Press TV has been a thorn in the side of Britain's right-wing and pro-Israeli groups who worked rigorously to limit its operations inside Britain as the mission of the channel was “to give a second eye to Western audiences,” as described by Press TV CEO, Mohammad Sarafraz.
In 2010, the whistleblower website WikiLeaks revealed that the US and British governments were engaged in “exploring ways to limit the operations of the IRIB's Press TV service, which operates a large bureau (over 80 staff) in London.”
Nevertheless, they needed a well-thought-out conspiracy as the revealed cable disclosed “UK law sets a very high standard for denying licenses to broadcasters. Licenses can only be denied in cases where national security is threatened, or if granting a license would be contrary to Britain's obligations under international law.”
The well-thought-out conspiracy started with several attacks on Press TV from British banks. The most blatant instance came in 2011 when the 84% state-owned National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, froze Press TV's account, leaving a devastating impact on the operations of Press TV Ltd., Press TV's production company in London.
In February 2011, the whistleblower website WikiLeaks revealed that NatWest had refused to respond to their requests asking for the reasons behind their decision.
Britain's latest attack on Press TV came on Friday when policy advisor to the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Ed Richards, decided to revoke the channel's broadcasting license.
The official reason behind the decision made by Ed Richard, who is currently the Controller of Corporate Strategy at the BBC and the head of Britain's Office of Communications (Ofcom), was that Press TV's editorial team was based in Tehran.
This comes as several other channels, including CNN and Al Jazeera, have their editorial teams in countries other than Britain, in other words, the US and Qatar.
Despite Britain's all-out efforts to prevent British people from being able to hear the voice of the voiceless, Iran's alternative news outlet still provides British people with its wide coverage of issues absent in the British media.
