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Some users are unable to access sites like Presstv.com, an English-language news outlet run by the Iranian state. When trying to access, users see the following message: “The domain presstv.com has been seized by the United States Government pursuant to a seizure order pursuant to 18 USC … as part of a law enforcement action by the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Office of Export Law Enforcement and the FBI. “.
Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday that the United States has blocked the websites of several news agencies including Iran’s state-run Press TV.
“The US administration blocked the websites of several news agencies and television channels, including Press TV, Al-Masirah, Al-Alam and Al-Malouma, on Tuesday, in flagrant violation of press freedom,” Fars Agency wrote in a tweet on Twitter.
While it does not explicitly state that its website has been hacked, the English-language Press TV account tweeted, “In what appears to be a coordinated action, a similar message appears on the websites of Iranian and regional TV networks claiming website domains have been taken over by the US government. United”.
Press TV’s and Fares’ tweets included an image of a notice saying “This site has been seized” with text saying “The domain has been seized by the United States Government pursuant to a seizure order.”
Asked about the takeover of the sites, State Department spokesman Ned Price referred reporters on a media call to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately provide comment.
The move comes just days after Iranian hardliner Ebrahim Raisi elected the nation’s new head of state in a process the US State Department described as “pre-made” and not free and fair. All of Raisi’s serious rivals were banned from the race, and the overall voter turnout was 48.8%, the lowest number since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
In a press conference, on Monday, the Iranian president-elect ruled out a meeting with US President Joe Biden, and called on the United States to lift sanctions on Tehran and join the Iran nuclear deal.
The US government’s seizure of the ports is a potentially provocative move amid talks in Vienna over the 2015 nuclear agreement. The sixth round of those discussions – which are aimed at bringing the US back to the agreement and Iran in compliance – concluded over the weekend. Price told reporters on Monday that the United States expects there will be a seventh round of talks and that the election of a major will have no impact on the negotiations in the Austrian capital.
“When it comes to our diplomacy, we have always said that it is absolutely in our interest to come to a mutual return of compliance with the JCPOA precisely because it would once again allow us to permanently and verifiably prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he said. “It was in our interest before the Iranian elections. It is clearly in our interest after the elections.”
“I would like to point out that although Iran will have a new president in the coming weeks, it is the Supreme Leader of Iran who ultimately decides Iran’s policy on a range of important issues,” Price added.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler and Hera Humayun contributed to this report.
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