Babol - Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini criticized here on Friday the West's cultural approach towards Iran.
He made the remarks in the closing ceremony of the 7th Varesh National Short Film Festival in Babol. The festival had begun on Wednesday.
"The decision by the European Union (EU) to discontinue broadcast of programs of 19 Iranian satellite television channels, including Press TV (English-language television channel) on Hotbird is against the international rules and regulations."
The high-ranking official criticized the anti-Iranian theme of "Argo" movie and asked the Iranian movie-makers to confront the West worthless works by making rich valuable artistic products.
'Delusive works of art produced in the West are against the human ideals and values and destructive to the audience and in particular the youth.'
EU's decision to ban broadcast of Iranian TV channels on Hotbird satellite provider by Eutelsat SA is against freedom of speech and information, Iranian embassy to Ankara said in a statement released here on Thursday.
Iran's embassy to Turkey also condemned the EU's decision and called the action contrary to the West's claims of advocating freedom of speech and freedom of information.
In a similiar move on Thursday, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also condemned this action.
In a statement released by PFLP in Damascus on Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement reiterated that the move by the Eutelsat Company was aimed at restricting the media activities and suppressing the voice of truth-seekers who are confronting the Zionists and savagery of imperialists in the world, particularly their approach in Palestine.
The Eutelsat company has exerted pressure on the Hotbird satellite broadcast service provider to cut 12473 satellite transmission and prevent providing services to the networks of this satellite package since October 15.
Some of the Iranian television channels disrupted are Al-Alam, Press TV, Al-Kowsar, News network, Sahar 1 and 2 and Jaam-e Jam 1 and 2.
Freedom of information is an extension of freedom of speech, a fundamental human right recognized in international law, which is today understood more generally as freedom of expression in any medium, be it in oral form, in written form, print, through the Internet or through art forms. This means that the protection of freedom of speech as a right includes not only the content, but also the means of expression. Freedom of information may also refer to the right to privacy in the context of the Internet and information technology. As with the right to freedom of expression, the right to privacy is a recognized human right and freedom of information acts as an extension to this right. Lastly, freedom of information can include opposition to patents, copyrights or intellectual property in general.
In June 2006, nearly 70 countries had freedom of information legislations applying to information held by government bodies and in certain circumstances to private bodies. In 19 of these countries, the freedom of information legislation also applied to private bodies. Access to information was increasingly recognized as a prerequisite for transparency and accountability of governments, as a facilitating consumers' ability to make informed choices, and as safeguarding citizens against mismanagement and corruption. This has led to an increasing number of countries to enact freedom of information legislation in the past 10 years. In recent years; private bodies have started to perform functions which were previously carried out by public bodies. Privatization and de-regulation saw banks, telecommunications companies, hospitals and universities being run by private entities, leading to demands for the extension of freedom of information legislation to cover private bodies.
In case of the Argo movie, it is important to know that Argo is a 2012 American thriller film directed by Ben Affleck based loosely on Tony Mendez's account of the historical rescue of six US diplomats from Tehran, Iran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
The film stars Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman, and was released in North America on October 12, 2012. The film was co-produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, who previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed Good Night, and Good Luck.
The film is an alleged story of six American diplomats who evade capture and escape the hostage crisis by the help of Canada's embassy in Tehran.
© IRNA 2012
