Sahar TV (, ''Shabake-e Sahar'', ''SAHARTV''), is the name of an Iranian TV channels that is part of Sahar Universal Network (SUN) which is the branch of

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; ) or Seda va Sima () for short, formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian revolution of 1979, is an Iranian state-controlled media corporation that holds a monopo ...

responsible for broadcasting programs internationally via its

Azeri Azeri or Azeri Turk may refer to: * Azeri people, an ethnic group also known as Azerbaijanis * Citizens of Azerbaijan * Azeri language, the modern-day Turkic language * Old Azeri, an extinct Iranian language * Azeri Turk (journal), Academic jour ...

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

language television channels. It broadcasts to Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus, some parts of Northern Africa, Oceania, and all the countries in the subcontinent of India and Eastern Asia.

History

On 16 December 1997, Sahar Universal Network began broadcasting English programs for one hour a day. It gradually increased its airtime up to 4 hours a day. Although the main function of English TV is to propagate the Islamic educations, the structure of the topics and genres of programs in English TV are varied. Programming is not restricted to politics and news, but scientific and social documentaries, clips, and game shows also.

Controversy

In February 2005,

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

-based

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it has been the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Its subsidiary E ...

banned all broadcasts of Sahar TV by the orders of the administrative court, due to the channel's alleged incitement of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

by broadcasting the

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n TV series ''

Zahra's Blue Eyes ''Zahra's Blue Eyes'' (), also titled ''For You, Palestine'', is a Syrian-Iranian television series which premiered in 2004 on Sahar 1. It was created by Ali Derakhshi, a former official of the Iranian Education Ministry. Set in the West Bank, th ...

'', which was produced by the Lebanese TV station,

Al-Manar Al-Manar () is a Lebanese satellite television station owned and operated by the Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah,

, owned by

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

organization. Iraqi information director Nazar Heydar cited the French ban has violated human rights conventions.

Notes

External links

* {{coord, 35, 47, 4.22, N, 51, 24, 43.78, E, display=title Government of Iran Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Television stations in Iran Television channels and stations established in 1997 Mass media in Iran Mass media in Tehran