Ofcom, which regulates broadcasting media in the UK, has revoked the licence of Press TV, whose UK operation is based at studios in west London but whose editorial control is – so Ofcom argued – located in Tehran. Ofcom had given Press TV a choice: either move editorial control to London or transfer its UK broadcasting licence to Iran. Press TV apparently ignored this ultimatum. So now it is off the air.
I believe this action by Ofcom to be thoroughly deplorable as well as palpably cynical. But before I go any further I must make two declarations of interest. The first is that I am a proud Zionist. The second is that within months of its establishment in the UK in 2007, I became an occasional broadcaster on Press TV, appearing mostly on panel discussions. In 2011, I made four such appearances, and received a total of £300 in fees, which I donated to Israel.
My Zionist affiliation and sympathies are of course very well known to Press TV. But I have never been censored, nor has the company ever made the slightest attempt to get me to modify a particular view. Press TV's considerable following in the Middle East has thus been exposed to opinions and arguments – especially in relation to Israel – that they might otherwise never hear. Now this voice of balance has been silenced.
The suppression of any media outlet anywhere in the world is an affront to freedom of expression and appalling to contemplate. That a British agency should be responsible for such an act of repression is scarcely credible.
I entirely agree that there have been occasions on which Press TV has shown very poor judgment: for example its decision in 2009 to broadcast an interview with Maziar Bahari which Bahari (a Newsweek journalist) claimed had been obtained under duress, while he was held in a Tehran jail. But I challenge you to name any UK-based TV channel that has not made a bad error of broadcasting judgment.
The Ofcom ban – which Press TV will surely circumvent via its web-based presence – will only serve to increase anti-western sentiment in Iran, and can only bolster Islamist feelings of victimhood. Don't take my word for this. Search now on Iranian blogs, where the ban is being variously and widely attributed to Jews, Nazis and Her Majesty the Queen.
In this connection I must also draw attention to the grounds upon which the ban was imposed – namely that real editorial control of the station remained in Tehran. If this is the case now it must certainly had been the case when Ofcom's licence was first granted, because Press TV is and always has been state-funded by the Iranian Islamic Republic.
There has never been any secret about this. So why bring up this issue now? We do know – courtesy of WikiLeaks – that two years ago the British government was reported to be planning to strike a blow at Press TV in retaliation for the (equally deplorable) blocking of western satellite channels by Tehran. Now it would appear that the blow has been struck.
Whatever one thinks of Press TV's output, it expressed a certain viewpoint that it is important for us to have access to, even if we find it at times repugnant. Its UK licence should be speedily restored.
• Ofcom has issued a statement in response to this article. It is here.
View all comments >