U.S Blocks 36 Iranian-linked Websites

United State has blocked 36 Iranian-linked websites for infringing its sanctions.

Gatekeepers News reports that the U.S. Justice Department announced that most of the websites which were connected to either disinformation activities or violent organizations were seized on Tuesday.

“Today (Tuesday), pursuant to court orders, the United States seized 33 websites used by the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU) and three websites operated by Kata’ib Hizballah (KH), in violation of U.S. sanctions,” the department said in a statement.

Gatekeepers News, however, gathered that some of the sites were back online within hours with new domain addresses.

Kataib Hezbollah (KH) is one of the main Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups and has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States.

The sites seized included Press TV, the Iranian government’s main English-language satellite television channel, and Al Alam, its Arabic-language equivalent. Both came back online using Iranian domain addresses Alalam.ir and Presstv.ir.

The Justice Department said the 33 domains used by IRTVU are owned by a United States company and that IRTVU did not obtain a license from Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control before utilizing the domain names. KH also did not obtain a license.

Notices appeared earlier on Tuesday on several Iran-affiliated websites saying they had been seized by the United States government as part of law enforcement action.

Iranian news agencies said the U.S. government had seized several Iranian media websites and sites belonging to groups affiliated with Iran such as Yemen’s Houthi movement.

Gatekeepers News observed that the seizure comes days after prominent hardliner, Ebrahim Raisi, was elected as Iran’s new president and after envoys for Iran and six world powers, including Washington, adjourned high-stakes talks on reviving their tattered 2015 nuclear accord and returned to capitals for consultations.

The website of the Arabic-language Masirah TV, which is run by the Houthis, read: “The domain almasirah.net has been seized by the United States Government in accordance with a seizure warrant … as part of a law enforcement action by the Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement and Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

The site instantly opened a new working website at www.almasirah.com.

Iran’s Arabic language Alalam TV said on its Telegram channel: “U.S. authorities shut down Al-Alam TV’s website.”

Notices also appeared on the website of Lualua TV, an Arabic-language Bahraini independent channel that broadcasts from Britain.

The semi-official Iranian news agency YJC agency said on Tuesday the U.S. move “demonstrates that calls for freedom of speech are lies.”