Jamming signals disrupt IRIB broadcast on Hotbird

Jamming signals disrupt IRIB broadcast on Hotbird

Sat Mar 10, 2012 7:3PM GMT

The broadcast of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting's (IRIB) international channels on the Hotbird satellite provider has been interrupted for two hours by jamming signals sent from an unknown location.

The transmission of high-power jamming signals on frequency 12437 MHz took place from 9:00 to 11:00 GMT on Saturday, March 10, 2012, during which the broadcast of IRIB’s international channels was interrupted several times.

In addition to the 24-hour English-speaking Press TV, other international channels, including Al-Alam, Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, Al-Kowsar, and Sahar 1 and 2 channels were also affected.

The attack on IRIB signals was not the first of its kind in recent months.

On January 19, British technicians operating from Bahrain also sent jamming signals to block IRIB channels on the Hotbird satellite, including provincial channels and a number of international channels such as Press TV, Al-Alam, Al-Kowsar, Jam-e Jam and Sahar.

In addition to jamming IRIB signals, US and Israeli hackers have launched several cyber attacks against Press TV’s website.

The first such attack came on December 9, 2011, when American and Israeli hackers attacked the Press TV website after the network broadcast footage of the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, an advanced US spy drone which was captured by the Iranian military for violating the country’s airspace.

Also on March 5, the Press TV website was subject to another cyber attack by the same hackers.

Both attacks were foiled by effective security countermeasures taken by the Press TV technical team.

SS/PKH/HGH