UANI

"A Hong Kong-based firm that attempted to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone operator has much closer ties to China's Huawei Technologies than was previously known, corporate records show. Cathy Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, served on the board of Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co Ltd between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records filed with Hong Kong's Companies Registry. Reuters reported last month that in late 2010, Skycom's office in Tehran offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros worth of HP gear to Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran, despite U.S. trade sanctions. At least 13 pages of the proposal were marked 'Huawei confidential' and carried Huawei's logo. Huawei said neither it nor Skycom ultimately provided the HP equipment; HP said it prohibits the sale of its products to Iran." (Reuters, "Exclusive: Huawei CFO linked to firm that offered HP gear to Iran," 1/31/2013)

"The Spanish satellite company Hispasat has stopped airing Press TV and Hispan TV as of Friday December 21 and ordered Overon, another satellite company, to follow suit. Hispasat’s removal of the Islamic Republic state channels comes after a similar move by the French company Eutelsat, which also owns part of Hispasat... Iran says that Hispan TV is officially registered in Spain and has been operating under the media regulations of that country." (Radio Zamaneh, "Sanctions cause problems for Iranian channels," 12/22/2012)

"The proposal to MobinNet for the Huawei lawful-intercept system states that it includes technology from a German company called Utimaco Safeware AG. Utimaco says Huawei is one of its worldwide resellers but that neither MobinNet directly - nor Huawei on behalf of MobinNet - purchased or licensed its products. The proposal also states that Huawei equipment at another Iranian telecom had 'already successfully integrated with' an Utimaco product 'and accumulated rich integration experience, which will be shared.' The other Iranian telecom isn't named but Malte Pollmann, Utimaco's chief executive officer, confirmed that in 2006, Nokia's German unit had purchased Utimaco software for MTN Irancell, Iran's second-largest mobile phone operator which has a major contract with Huawei. He said the product hadn't been maintained for several years and that Utimaco believes it no longer is being used. MTN Irancell is 49 percent owned by South Africa's MTN Group, Africa's largest telecom carrier. It declined to comment about the Utimaco product.'" (Reuters, "Special Report: How foreign firms tried to sell spy gear to Iran," 12/4/2012)

"A Tel Aviv-based civil rights group accused UK satellite operator Inmarsat Plc over the weekend of admitting it provides its technology to Iranian oil tankers. Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) warned Inmarsat last month that the company could risk civil as well as criminal proceedings in US courts if it did not stop supplying its guidance services to Iranian military vessels and tankers. Rich Harris, Inmarsat’s senior vice president told Shurat HaDin that the group’s allegations had no basis, and that Inmarsat is not violating sanctions. According to Harris, after the British government privatized Inmarsat in 1999, the company was obliged to continue its 'public service obligations' to 'ensure the continuity of maritime satellite distress and safety communications services' for the UN’s Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. Inmarsat was obliged to provide all ships with distress communications systems 'without discrimination on the basis of nationality,' Harris noted. In response, Shurat HaDin director and civil rights activist Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said that Inmarsat could still be in violation of sanctions, despite its UN obligations . . . The warning letter came in the wake of recent US Treasury Department sanctions against Iranian vessels, imposed last month . . . In a July 26 interview with Space News, Inmarsat spokesman Christopher McLaughlin had said that 'some of these ships [on the Treasury Department list] nonetheless appear to be using older Inmarsat gear,' while noting that the company is not informed as to the identity of its customers, because of its history as an international treaty organization. In that interview, McLaughlin said that these were 'heritage services' installed before its distribution partners had to inform it of its customers’ exact identities." (Jerusalem Post, "Shurat HaDin: UK company servicing Iran tankers," 8/5/12)

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"A Tel Aviv-based civil rights group warned on Wednesday that satellite operator Inmarsat could face criminal prosecution if it continues providing its technology to Iranian oil tankers. In a letter to Inmarsat, Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) said the company could risk civil as well as criminal proceedings in US courts if it did not stop supplying its guidance services to Iranian military vessels and tankers. Shurat HaDin's director, and civil rights activist, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said the warning letter came in the wake of recent US Treasury Department sanctions against Iranian  The sanctions, imposed earlier this month, identify by name 58 National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) vessels. The US Treasury Department said that identifying the vessels would help companies and individuals comply with sanctions against Iran and undermine Iran's attempts to use NITC front companies to evade sanctions. Twenty-eight of the vessels named by the US Treasury Department appear on Inmarsat's shipping directory as being in receipt of the company's services . . . According to Jane's Intelligence Weekly,  the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), is the Islamic Republic's national signatory to Inmarsat.  Iran's Revolutionary Guards have effectively taken over Iran’s telecommunications company, TCI, after the Mobin Trust Consortium, a company partially owned by the Guards, won a 2009 tender. Meanwhile, other documents available on Inmarsat's website list TCI as a Point of Service Activation (PSA), the company's term for an entity that has concluded a contract with Inmarsat for its C or Mini C satellite system, used by vessels for two-way communication. In its letter to Inmarsat, Shurat HaDin say that providing aid to Iran is illegal." (Jerusalem Post, "Shurat HaDin warns UK operator over Iran deals," 7/25/12)

"Bahrain will stop broadcasting its channels on satellite operator Arabsat to protest an Iran-led 'hostile' media campaign, the state news agency BNA reported on Saturday. 'The information Affairs Authority (IAA) decided to stop broadcasting Bahrain bouqet on Arabsat, starting from June 1,' BNA said quoting an English language statement. IAA criticised Arabsat for failing to heed repreated requests to take an 'official measure' against Iranian channels which also broadcast Arabsat... The IAA said it had 'repeatedly requested' Arabsat to take measures against Iranian channels since February 2011, when a month-long Shiite-led uprising began in Bahrain against the regime. 'The executive body of Arabsat did not respond to these requrests,' said the statement. In 2009, Saudi-based Arabsat and another Arab satellite operator, Nilesat, briefly stopped broadcasting Arabic-language Iranian channel Al-Alam." (AFP, "Bahrain to quit Arabsat to protest Iran channels," 5/30/2012)
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"Iran is jamming broadcasts by Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera, satellite operator Arabsat said in a statement received Tuesday... The satellite television on Sunday announced a new frequency for Arabsat viewers due to 'continued interference.'" (European News Centre, "Iran jamming Al-Jazeera: Arabsat," 1/11/2012)

"The company’s data warehouse is outsourced to an SA company, PBT. According to the source, 'PBT simply provides a data warehousing function. In other words, they extract data and provide data-mining functions for product development, market segmentation, etc. MTN owns the data, so they don’t really have a choice.'" (Tech Central, "Iran ‘puts the screws’ on MTN," 4/5/2012)

"Other Western satellite companies, including Intelsat SA and Telesat Holdings Inc., still carry IRIB's channels." (The Wall Street Journal, "A Top Satellite Provider Cuts Off Iran State Broadcaster," 10/15/2012)

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"IRIB broadcasts not only in Persian but in Arabic—on its Al Alam channel—and in English on its Press TV. Besides Eutelsat, companies it uses include Intelsat SA, Telesat Holdings Inc. and AsiaSat, a Hong Kong-based operator in which General Electric Co. has a stake... Telesat, which also says it isn't aware of being jammed, does carry BBC Persian but the satellite that carries the channel isn't widely watched in Iran." (The Wall Street Journal, "In Skies Over Iran, a Battle for Control of Satellite TV," 12/27/2011)

"Satellite provider Eutelsat agreed with media services company Arqiva to block the Irib channels as of Monday morning because of 'reinforced EU council sanctions' Eutelsat spokeswoman Vanessa O'Connor said. Irib's access to Eutelsat was via a contract with Arqiva." (Fox News, "European satellite provider cuts off 19 Iranian TV and radio stations because of EU sanctions," 10/15/2012)

"Iran uses international companies to provide the infrastructure for its broadcasting and telecoms services, even as it ramps up its attempts to prevent civilian Internet use and jams broadcasts from international news networks, including the Voice of America and BBC Persian.

Arqiva facilitates the regime-controlled IRIB’s Persian television transmissions as well as its English-language outlet Press TV and Al-Alam in Arabic, according to UANI…In a recent letter to Arqiva, UANI president Kristen Silverberg warned the British company that it could run afoul of recent US sanctions legislation if it continues to provide services to IRIB. The most recent legislation, passed in April, sanctions entities that have sold or provided goods, services or technologies to Iran or Syria likely to be used to facilitate computer or network disruption, monitoring or tracking.

The pressure group also accused Arqiva of acting contrary to the position on Iran of the British government, which opposes human rights abuses.

'By facilitating IRIB’s broadcast of libelous programs and hate speech against religious minorities, forced confessions of peaceful dissidents and civil society activists, and “show trials” of political prisoners, Arqiva is serving to further the Iranian regime’s campaign of persecution and repression against its own citizens,' Silverberg wrote." (The Jerusalem Post, "UK firm ‘facilitating Iran’s human rights abuses'," 6/14/12)

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"European satellite companies like Eutelsat, Intelsat and Arqiva provide extensive services to the Iranian state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), including for domestic Iranian radio and television broadcasts, and for Iran's growing list of foreign-language channels, like the English-language PressTV and the Arabic Al-Alam... It has not stopped carrying IRIB channels on its satellites, which are facilitated through Arqiva, even though the Iranian government is effectively destroying the products of its other clients... Over the past two years, during which Iran increased its jamming of Persian-language broadcasts from abroad, Eutelsat and Arqiva have done little to hold the Iranian government accountable." (The Wall Street Journal, "Broadcasting Tehran's Repression," 12/9/2011) 

"Eutelset stopped broadcasting 19 Islamic Republic networks from its Hotbird satellite starting October 15." (Radio Zamaneh, "Russia steps in to broadcast Iranian channels," 11/5/2012)

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"European satellite provider Eutelsat also took Iranian channels off the air last week, saying that the decision was made by the European Union." (Trend, "Intelsat takes Iranian channels off air," 10/22/2012) 

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"Eutelsat Communications SA said it stopped broadcasting the Iranian channels in light of European sanctions approved in March and a French regulatory decision. The move comes a little over a week after Iran escalated the jamming of Eutelsat satellites to censor broadcasts during recent protests over a plunge in the local currency... Though Eutelsat's decision to remove Iran's government-owned channels isn't related to the nuclear standoff, the move serves to isolate the Islamist Republic further... For years, IRIB has rented space on the popular Eutelsat satellite through Arqiva Ltd., a U.K.-based transmission company and middleman. Both companies said Monday they were suspending the Hotbird contract with Iran. Eutelsat is also planning to remove IRIB from other satellites it owns, a spokeswoman for the French company said, and has notified other transmission companies that rent space to IRIB on Eutelsat satellites apart from Hotbird... In explaining their move, Eutelsat also noted that the EU added IRIB Director Ezzatollah Zarghami to its sanctions list in March... Iranian human-rights organizations and opposition activists praised Eutelsat's decision." (The Wall Street Journal, "A Top Satellite Provider Cuts Off Iran State Broadcaster," 10/15/2012)

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"Satellite provider Eutelsat agreed with media services company Arqiva to block the Irib channels as of Monday morning because of 'reinforced EU council sanctions' Eutelsat spokeswoman Vanessa O'Connor said. Irib's access to Eutelsat was via a contract with Arqiva. Eutelsat would not comment on eventual financial consequences of the cutoff. Iran's Press TV said Irib could take legal action against Eutelsat over the cutoff. Irib's chief was among those targeted in a round of EU sanctions against Iran adopted in March, based on what European officials said were human rights violations in its programming, according to Eutelsat... Press TV says it's among the channels cut by the Eutelsat decision. Others include Farsi-language channels for Iranian expatriates and Arabic-language offerings, including the news channel Al-Alam." (Fox News, "European satellite provider cuts off 19 Iranian TV and radio stations because of EU sanctions," 10/15/2012)

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"The BBC, for example, launched its Persian-language channel in 2009 and beamed it from the 'Hotbird' satellite of Paris-based Eutelsat Communications SA, which is a satellite that large numbers of rooftop dishes in Iran are pointed at to receive free Persian channels... Besides Eutelsat, companies it uses include Intelsat SA, Telesat Holdings Inc. and AsiaSat, a Hong Kong-based operator in which General Electric Co. has a stake... Eutelsat, meanwhile, says it has been targeted repeatedly... The chief executive of Eutelsat, Michel de Rosen, said, 'I get pressure from many governments about many channels. Our permanent answer is: We will not do anything about a channel if we do not get a clear order backed by law.' Eutelsat says it did pull Libyan government channels in April after the European Union barred any technical aid to the Gadhafi regime. Later, North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces bombed the Libyan state satellite-television facility, which NATO said was being used to incite attacks on civilians... For 70 years it has had a Persian-language radio station, which is hard to block because it is short-wave; the BBC also has a Persian website, which is blocked in Iran but accessible via circumvention tools. For its TV channel, the BBC rented a frequency on Eutelsat's Hotbird, the most popular satellite in Iran for TV watchers... Because the jamming was causing collateral damage to neighboring channels on Hotbird, the BBC reluctantly agreed to a request from a satellite-space middleman to move to another Eutelsat satellite, called W3A... Eutelsat says it has filed numerous complaints with a U.N. agency that manages outer-space frequencies, the International Telecommunication Union, an arm of which stated in March that the interference 'appeared to be emanating from Iran.'" (The Wall Street Journal, "In Skies Over Iran, a Battle for Control of Satellite TV," 12/27/2011)

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"European satellite companies like Eutelsat, Intelsat and Arqiva provide extensive services to the Iranian state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), including for domestic Iranian radio and television broadcasts, and for Iran's growing list of foreign-language channels, like the English-language PressTV and the Arabic Al-Alam... But Eutelsat also hosts many of the stations whose programming Tehran jams... Over the past two years, during which Iran increased its jamming of Persian-language broadcasts from abroad, Eutelsat and Arqiva have done little to hold the Iranian government accountable... Either company could have contractually required Iran to stop its jamming, which is politically motivated censorship, or refused to carry IRIB. Instead Eutelsat's response was to discontinue broadcasting BBC Persian and VOA Persian on the most accessible and popular satellite, Hotbird6, and to move them to less accessible satellites... Last month, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for Eutelsat to cease service as long as illegal jamming is taking place." (The Wall Street Journal, "Broadcasting Tehran's Repression," 12/9/2011)

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"Iran is facing mounting international protests about its jamming of the BBC's Persian TV service (PTV) after the channel – which has millions of viewers and is hugely popular with opposition supporters – was taken off a satellite owned by Europe's leading operator. The BBC said today it was 'actively supporting' a formal complaint to the International Telecommunication Union, a UN-affiliated body, about "deliberate interference" from Iran. The ITU confirmed it had received representations from regulators in France, home to Eutelsat, owner of the Hotbird 6 satellite, which transmitted PTV until the end of last month... Eutelsat says PTV was removed from Hotbird 6 'in agreement' with the BBC, though sources close to the affair say the operator caved in to commercial and legal pressures from other customers broadcasting on the same transponder. Another Eutelsat satellite, Hotbird 8, provides capacity to Iranian state media channels, including English-language Press TV, which has offices in London. Iranian opposition supporters are accusing satellite companies of 'siding with dictators'. Eutelsat and GlobeCast, a France Télécom subsidiary which leases bandwidth from Eutelsat — and which made the decision to take down PTV — refuse to say publicly that the Iranian government is responsible for the jamming." (BBC News. "BBC joins international protests against Iranian TV interference," 1/14/10)