TEHRAN (Iran News) –For years the Western countries have resorted to double standard approach regarding freedom of expression and free flow of information and in fact they accept only those media which are in compliance with West and they take offensive stand against the independent and anti-West media.
In recent days while there have been some riots in Iran and hostile media outlets and networks have tried to fan the flame of unrests, the West has blamed Iranian media for not reporting truth or supporting violence and threatened them with punishment and sanctions while at the same time the hostile media are encouraged to continue their anti-Iran reports and coverage.
On Friday Tehran slammed Canada’s fresh sanctions on Iranian media news outlets, saying the move is in violation of people’s basic rights and exposes the West’s empty rhetoric regarding free access to information and freedom of expression.
“The U.S. government’s sanctions lunacy has turned into a virus that is rapidly spreading to its friends,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a post on his Instagram account.
Canada on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on six Iranian individuals and four entities over alleged human rights violations in the country and continued actions to destabilize regional peace and security.
The newly sanctioned individuals and entities include Iranian military figures, the Constitutional Council, and the Assembly of Experts.
Kanaani said the list also includes Keyhan newspaper, Tasnim news agency, Nour News and Fars news agency, as well as the current and former heads of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting along with an IRIB reporter. All these four media outlets are famous for exposing the West’s plots against the Islamic Revolution.
He added that it is not the first time Canada has sanctioned prominent Iranian media outlets and journalists, pointing to its recent sanctions on Press TV.
The Iranian spokesperson said Canada and its anti-Iranian Western allies have targeted Iranian people with economic sanctions while depriving them of the right to express their opinions, “unless they speak like them and in their cultural language, such as ‘Iran International’, ‘Manoto,’ and other [channels].”
“Resorting to force and sanctions to prevent the voice of others from being heard by a country whose human rights claims have deafened the world is not so surprising,” Kanaani added.
He said Canada tends to show its apartheid behaviors occasionally, a proof of which, he said, is the discovery of mass graves of indigenous children in that country.
But Ottawa has now launched a “media apartheid,” he said.
“When [empty] slogans are unmasked and logic becomes weak, there is no option but to resort to force and sanction. Sanction has become the international language of the U.S. and its allies,” the spokesperson said.
Of course everybody is well aware of Canada’s intention over sanctions on Iranian media outlets and they know that Canada is hapless in taking action against the Islamic Republic and it tries to impose sanctions on media, individuals or entities to silence some hostile voices against Iran.
Canada has proved in the past that it is not a real supporter of freedom of expression or free flow of information because in the past it has taken action against independent media outlets.
For the West, free flow of information means any report and news against anti-Islamic Revolution or against Islam and Muslims, and anybody who writes or talks against the West will come under fire and will face sanctions and penalties.
Canada is recommended to first resolve its own domestic problems and human rights issues and to stop giving shelter to the corrupts and terrorist group members as Ottawa is also recommended not to follow blindly the U.S. policy of sanctions because Washington’s policy of sanctions especially against Iran has been so far in vain because the Islamic Republic of Iran has proved that it has been growing and getting stronger under sanctions and sanctions on its media cannot discourage them from assuming their responsibility of exposing the West; because this is the main policy of Iranian media to enlighten the world public opinion and expose the crimes of the world arrogance and what Canada has done against these Iranian is just for laughing and fooling the public in Canada and the world.
So, for countries like Canada there is No Entry sign only for the independent media and this is the mere and apparent sign of double standard approach regarding the free flow of information.
