Al-Jazeera reporters banned from Iran

Iran today suspended operations of Arab TV broadcaster Al-Jazeera throughout the country, accusing it of inflaming violent protests by the Arab minority in south west.

The government said two more protesters died in the unrest, bringing the three-day toll to three dead and at least eight injured in Khuzistan province on Iran’s border with Iraq.

“The situation is under control in Khuzistan province right now,” said Interior Ministry Jahanbakhsh Khanjani. ”The province is calm in general but unfortunately two people were killed during last night’s violence in Mahshahr.”

Mahshahr is 50 miles south east of Ahvaz, an oil-rich city where violent demonstrations erupted last Friday and Saturday after rumours spread of an alleged government plan to move non-Arabs into the city.

Al-Jazeera, which is popular among Iran’s Arab-speaking minority, is believed to have been the first to broadcast news of the unrest. The station’s commentators discussed the clashes on talk shows as well.

Tehran today ordered the station to cease operations until the network explained the motives behind its coverage.

“If it is proved that Al-Jazeera committed a crime, it will be prosecuted,” Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, an official at Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, said.

“We suspended its activity in Iran to investigate the network’s role in unrest in Ahvaz,” Khoshvaght said. “We expect the network to respect Iran’s national integrity and security.”

Jihad Ballout, an Al-Jazeera spokesman in Doha, Qatar, said he had heard media reports of the ban but the station had not yet received official notification.

The station, owned by the Qatari government since its start in 1996, is believed to have the Arab world’s biggest market share, estimated at 35 million people. Few people in Farsi-speaking Iran watch Al-Jazeera.

Arabs make up just 3% of Iran’s population; Persians account for 51% of the 69 million citizens.