NCRI – Brig. Gen. Hossein Ashtari, chief of public security of the State Security Forces (SSF) –mullahs' suppressive police— said that in greater Tehran 125,133 pieces of satellite equipments have been located and sized in various parts of the capital, reported the official news agency IRNA on March 7.
He added that 17 people have been arrested in this connection and charged with holding these equipments including receivers, large quantities of satellite dishes, LNBs and other equipments.
Brig. Gen. Ismail Ahmadi-Moqaddam chief of the SSF said on February 15 that "In past few days discovery of illegal satellite dishes [by the police] has increased dramatically in urban and rural areas."
"We deal firmly with those who break the law by having satellite dishes in their homes. The violators will face criminal prosecution for breaking the law," Ahmadi-Moqaddam added.
A truck carrying over a thousand satellite receivers were confiscated by SSF en route to the city of Karaj, 40 kilometers west of Tehran, the state television reported on April 1, 2008.
"The receivers were transferred from a western city to Shahriar district of Karaj," the state television quoted Mohammad Hossein Karimi, the SSF chief in Karaj.
The Iranian regime regularly attacks private houses, rounding up satellite dishes from rooftops and back yards, and confiscates satellite receivers.
Despite the fact that since 1994 satellite dishes have been officially outlawed in Iran, millions of Iranians rely on satellite TV channels for their news and information. According to Brig. Gen. Ezzatollah Zarghami, head of the state-run broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), more than 30 percent of Iranians have access to satellite channels.
