News - Middle East: Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman says the relocation of a terrorist TV channel, calling itself “Iran International,” from the UK to the United States is a division of labour between spy agencies of several countries that are sponsoring the hostile network.

Nasser Kan’ani made the remarks on Tuesday after the Saudi-funded channel said it had moved its broadcasts to Washington due to alleged threats against its London-based journalists from Tehran.

“The developments related to the terrorist pseudo-media indicate that the channel is supported and managed by the intelligence services of certain states, including Britain,” he told Tasnim news agency.

“The story about the transfer of this network from the UK to the US is a new puppetry and theatrical measure as well as the division of labour between the intelligence services of several countries.”

Kan’ani also said that the TV channel works as an “operational and even training arm” seeking to provoke and fuel riots, insecurity, and anti-security activities inside Iran, adding that the network gives a podium to known elements from terrorist and separatist groups.

“For this reason and based on reliable examples and documents, the pseudo-media has been classified as a terrorist entity,” he noted.

The spokesman further stressed that Iran International’s role in igniting the flames of recent riots across the Islamic Republic is among “known criminal acts” that bear legal, judicial, and international responsibility for the channel along with its overt and covert sponsors.

Tehran, he added, will keep on bringing prosecution against the television channel.

“We believe that the transfer of the network from London to the US does not reduce the responsibility of the governments supporting and hosting the quasi-media, especially the British government, regarding [the channel’s] terrorist, separatist, and anti-Iran activities,” Kan’ani said.

He further advised the US government to consider international-legal responsibilities of hosting a violent and terrorist pseudo-media, saying, “Undoubtedly, the Islamic Republic reserves all rights for future follow-ups and will take appropriate measures.”

The so-called Iran International TV channel was founded in London in 2017 as part of a propaganda campaign against the Iranian government.

It has openly been promoting monarchists, the highly-notorious Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terror group, and most significantly, separatist terrorists, in violation of the UK’s own media regulations.

Riots broke out in Iran in mid-September after the death of Amini. The 22-year-old fainted at a police station in Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later in hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.

Iran’s intelligence community has said several countries, including the United States and Britain, have used their spy and propaganda apparatuses to provoke violent riots in the country.

London, in particular, is home to several anti-Iran TV networks, including Iran International, Manoto, and BBC Persian, which broadcast a steady stream of misinformation encouraging the Iranian youth to join the rioters during the recent wave of unrest.