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US blocks dozens of Iran's news websites blaming them for spreading disinformation

 

On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department stated that the American authorities seized Iran's state-linked news site which they blamed for spreading disinformation.

 The United States blocked these websites days after Iran had a presidential election. The US has accused Ebrahim Raisi, the country's former chief justice of Iran of human rights violations. The US has imposed sanctions and stopped official dealings with him.

 The Iran-backed Houthi militia's websites were also seized and along with satellite and TV news stations that are committed to reports from the city of Karbala, Iraq, the Iranian news media reported. 

 The relationship between Iran and the U.S. has worsened for years following President Donald Trump's withdrawal from Tehran's atomic deal and the arrival of sanctions on the nation. That eventually has seen Iran, over the long run; bit by bit abandon every limit on the enrichment of the uranium. 

 The Justice Department statement came hours after the Iranian state-run news organization IRNA reported that the U.S. government has seized news websites without giving any prior information. 

 The seizure comes as world powers struggle to restore Tehran's worn-out 2015 atomic deal and only days after the political wing of Iran's newly elected President, Ebrahim Raisi. 

 On Monday, Raisi, known for his antagonism toward the West, marked out a firm stance in his first press meet. He ruled out the possibility of meeting with US President Joe Biden or even negotiating about Tehran’s ballistic missile program.

 The U.S. government has also seized the news site Palestine Today, which echoes the perspectives of Gaza-based Islamic militant group Hamas and Islamic Jihad and redirecting the site to a similar takedown notice.

 This is not the first time that the United States government has seized the domain names of websites it accuses of spreading disinformation.

 In October 2020, US prosecutors took a network of web domains that they stated were used for spreading political disinformation around the world via Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

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