Reuters
The Parliament building in Tehran, Iran [Photo: Reuters]
Iran’s parliament approved on Sunday the general principles of a bill that would criminalise interviews and other communications with media deemed hostile to the Islamic Republic, including U.S. or Israeli media and outlets financed by either country.
Osman Salari, a member of parliament’s judicial and legal commission, said the individual provisions of the bill, which is aimed at countering foreign intelligence influence, have yet to be debated and approved.
Under the proposed bill, interviews or participation in discussions with such media would be banned and violations would carry six months to two years in prison.
Interviews with other foreign media would require notification to the intelligence ministry, while contact with foreign embassies, offices of foreign organisations or other non-Iranian institutions without notification and written permission from the foreign ministry would be punishable by a fine and deprivation of certain social rights.
