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Last update - 23:15 02/09/2008
Iran shuts down Saudi-owned TV station over 'false reporting'
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters
Tags: journalism, Iran, Al Arabiya

Iranian authorities on Tuesday shut down the offices of the Arabic language satellite TV channel Al Arabiya in Tehran and expelled the station manager from the country.

The Dubai-based TV channel reported on Tuesday that Iran had accused the network of "bias and false reporting." The chairman of Iran's parliamentary foreign relations committee said in response that the "network has slandered all the residents of Iran."

Al Arabiya is Saudi-owned, like most of the media in the Arab world, and is considered the second most popular television network among Arabs, second only to Al Jazeera.
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Al Arabiya broadcast a report last month about plans for an Egyptian film called "Imam of Blood" that would criticize Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. The film idea had sparked protests in the past in Iran.

Students of 10 universities in Iran called for the closure of Al Arabiya's offices in Iran over what they said was an "insulting" film about Khomeini and the Islamic Shi'ite faith, state radio reported on Tuesday, according to BBC monitoring.

Al Arabiya said in a television report that the network's Tehran bureau chief Hassan Fahs was ordered to leave for biased reporting. In a later statement, it protested Fahs' expulsion, said its news was balanced and that it gave Iranian officials the chance to respond to main reports on Iran.

Al Arabiya said a film called "Road to Revolution" had also been controversial and led to calls for its office to be closed.

Fahs told Reuters he was informed he could stay till his residence visa expired in October but, if he left before, would receive a "definitive exit" permit and would not get approval to return. "Definitive exit means expulsion," he said.

"The Iranians consider that Al Arabiya news is against Iran," said Fahs, adding that he planned to leave next week.

He said he had been told the Iranian authorities would consider letting him work for another company, if he made a request.

Al Arabiya said the Egyptian film about Khomeini was being made in retaliation for an Iranian film, "Assassination of a Pharaoh", which portrayed Sadat's assassination as the killing of a traitor by a martyr.

Al Arabiya said Mohamed Hassan al-Alfi, a member of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party, was writing a script for the movie which would argue that Khomeini's ideology was behind the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Demonstrators previously protested outside Egypt's mission in Iran. Egypt only has an interests section in Iran and says Iran must first change the name of a street called after Sadat's assassin and meet other demands before full ties resume.

In August, AFP said the Iranian authorities had told a British journalist working for the French news agency to leave.

Another British journalist was forced to leave Iran when his residence permit was not renewed, his newspaper said at the start of the year. Iranian officials said he was not expelled.

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      1.   At least the station manager was expelled. 19:03  |  Stephen 02/09/08
      2.   Of course they don`t want it if it`s moderate 19:09  |  x-ray 02/09/08
      3.   We know that the US is working overtime to create internal 20:16  |  lakshmi 02/09/08
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      6.   What Mullah`s do daily! 23:29  |  Yuri 02/09/08
      7.   How about a movie about how Mohammed created hate? 00:14  |  What`s fair is fair 03/09/08
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      9.   LAKSHMI always blame others.How about 1000 yrs of Shia/Sunni hate 00:30  |  PETER SM 03/09/08
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