The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has voiced solidarity with a number of Iranian media outlets, including the English-language Press TV news network, after the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on them.
The movement said in a Saturday statement that the US administration and its cohorts in the world hypocritically pretend to be advocating freedom of speech, thought and opinion, and they propagate such issues as long as they are consistent with their interests, policies and beliefs.
“They stifle the freedom of expression of anyone, who opposes them through all available means and specifically lambastes sanctions as the coercive measures expose the falsehood of their claims about freedom, equality as well as equal opportunities,” the statement pointed out.
Hezbollah went on to highlight that the new US sanctions against the Iranian media outlets and their officials confirm Washington’s defeat in the intellectual confrontation, and its inability to convince the international community to adopt the Western cultural model which has its roots in arrogance and hegemony.
The Lebanese resistance movement also expressed solidarity with all institutions and individuals to whom the sanctions have applied, and hailed their constructive role in the fight against the Israeli occupation and in supporting resistance and the rights of regional nations to freedom and independence.
On Friday, the United States has imposed a new round of sanctions on more than two dozen Iranian individuals and entities, including the English-language Press TV news network, over groundless accusations of “human rights abuses” on the eve of the anniversary of Western-backed riots in the country.
The US Department of Treasury announced in a press release on its website on Friday that the bans targeted 29 individuals and entities in connection with what it claimed was “violent suppression of nationwide protests” following the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman of Kurdish descent who lost her life in police custody in the capital Tehran September last year.
The sanctions were levied against 18 top members of Iran’s security forces, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the police as well as the head of the Iranian Prisons’ Organization. The bans were also imposed on three individuals and one company in connection with Iran’s telecoms ministry.
The Tehran-based Press TV news channel and the two media outlets of Fars News and Tasnim and three of their senior officials were also targeted with sanctions.
