SABA TV DENIED LICENSE TO BROADCAST FROM DUBAI

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 DUBAI 000292 SIPDIS SIPDIS LONDON FOR TSOU; PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/18/2016 TAGS: PINR ECPS IR PGOV SCUL TC SUBJECT: SABA TV DENIED LICENSE TO BROADCAST FROM DUBAI (C-TN5-01220) REF: A. 04 DUBAI 6301, B. 04 DUBAI 5636 DUBAI 00000292 001.2 OF 003 CLASSIFIED BY: Jason Davis, Consul General, Dubai , UAE. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) 1.(S) Summary: Saba TV, a satellite network planned by former Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi on behalf of his new National Trust party, has been deemed illegal in Iran. Also denied a license to operate out of Dubai, it has yet to go on air. Reza Froushani Rafiei, who claims to be involved in the channel, maintains that Karroubi will pursue it despite the Iranian ban, in part out of revenge for being wronged in the presidential election, in part to curb the power of the supreme leader and his potential rival, Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi. Rafiei claimed to have a different goal for the station, seeing in it a vehicle to pit mullahs against mullahs, to weaken the system from within. Rafiei claimed Karroubi had no knowledge he was discussing the station with USG officials. Post cannot vouch for Rafiei's bona fides. End summary. Saba TV On Hold -------------- 2.(S) Local media widely reported in late December that Iranian agents on a flight to Dubai tried to prevent a courier bringing Saba TV's first broadcast to Dubai. Reza Froushani Rafiei (please protect),who claims to be a manager at Saba TV, told PolEconChief January 14 that, after phone calls to Karroubi's people in Iran, the courier was finally allowed to leave the plane with the recordings. In the meantime, Rafiei said, he heard from Samacon, the satellite services provider in Dubai Media City (DMC),that the application of his company, SkyQuest, to broadcast out of Dubai to Iran had been approved; later the same day, however, he was informed by DMC management that the application had been denied, for unspecified reasons. He claimed that DMC knew from the beginning that SkyQuest would be broadcasting Karroubi's Saba TV. 3.(C) Consul General spoke January 16 to Ahmed Bin Byat, Chairman of TECOM, the Dubai government entity that oversees Dubai Media City, asking whether it was true that DMC had initially approved, and then denied, Saba's request to set up in DCM. Bin Byat confirmed that Karroubi's request had been turned down, saying "we told them from the beginning that they could not be in DMC because they were affiliated with a political party. DMC allows only mainstream, commercial media outlets, not those representing the views of a particular party or government." (Note: Saba TV, although private, is to be an arm of Karroubi's new National Trust political party.) Likely Explanations -------------- 4.(C) Bin Byat's legalistic justification notwithstanding, it is likely that concerns about relations with Iran led Dubai to deny Saba a license. While it is true that nearly all DMC media outlets are of the mainstream/commercial variety, affiliation with the US government did not, for example, prevent Al-Hurra Television and Radio Sawa from setting up shop in DMC. Such determinations are probably made by DMC on a case-by-case basis according to the potential political sensitivity of the applicant; it is unlikely that any station with a political axe to grind against a UAE neighbor would be granted a license to broadcast from DMC. 5.(S) The conservative Iranian news agency "Fars" reported December 27 that "authorities in the United Arab Emirates prevented the Saba satellite television network from becoming operational...UAE officials would like to avoid any tension in relations with Iran, and that is why they decided to suspend Saba's operating license -- only a few days before the station was to start." Rafiei told PolEconchief that he presumes this interpretation is accurate. He said he does not believe claims in the press that the U.S. played a role in the denial. (Background: Conservative Kayhan editor-in-chief Hossein Shari'atmadari December 28 blamed the US for stopping Saba TV: "A UAE company, after receiving an order from Saba TV, informed the satellite provider that the directors of the TV channel, who had been chosen by Mr. Karroubi, and the directors of the satellite and the staff of Saba TV, were mostly opponents of the Islamic Republic and that their programs were not against America but were actually in harmony with the American-sponsored propaganda campaign against Iran. Apparently, this was accepted by the American satellite center at first, but later Mr. Karroubi was describe as a person loyal to the Islamic DUBAI 00000292 002.2 OF 003 Revolution, and the company refused to give satellite space hired by the UAE to his TV on the grounds that it was contrary to the aims of the American government!" End Background) 6.(S) Rafiei said he has not yet told Karroubi that DMC denied Saba a license. Instead he is telling Karroubi that the death of Dubai Ruler Sheikh Maktoum has slowed down processing of the license. In the meantime he is looking into other broadcasting options. He claimed that Karroubi had no knowledge that he was discussing the station with USG officials. Iran Says No to Private Broadcasting -------------- 7.(S) Meanwhile in Iran, the Supreme National Security Council declared Saba TV and any cooperation with it illegal, on the grounds that the constitution forbids independent radio or TV in Iran. Other Iranian authorities have attacked Karroubi as "anti-nationalist" and "favoring Westerners," according to a December 27 statement by Reporters Without Borders deploring the ban. Rafiei believes that Supreme Leader Khamenei was responsible for the decision to ban the station, despite his never having told Karroubi "no" directly. Karroubi Fights Back -------------- 8.(S) Karroubi responded to the attacks against him by going on the offensive, telling the Iranian press December 29, "They have taken even God's space from us." He accused SNSC Secretary Ali Larijani of leading the opposition to Saba. Karroubi objected to the constitutional grounds for denying Saba TV permission to broadcast, saying that the constitution does not cover stations based outside of the country. Rafiei intimated that Larijani, formerly head of Iranian broadcasting, has financial reasons for opposing competition to state monopoly broadcasting. 9.(S) According to Rafiei, other groups outside of Karroubi's new National Trust party are rallying behind his quest for a station and are willing to support him politically. Prior to the SNSC declaration that private stations are illegal, other groups, including the conservative paramilitary group Ansar-e Hizballah, had announced their own intentions to start stations (ref b). Rafiei surmised that this allowed authorities to tell Karroubi when they turned him down, "see, we're turning everyone down, not just you." What is Karroubi Fighting For? -------------- 10.(S) In his statements to the Iranian press December 29, Karroubi said his party is based on the constitution and the guidelines of the system determined by the late Iman Khomeini, and that authorities should wait to see the content of Saba before judging whether its programs were "outside" the system or not. He said he will continue his efforts as far as the law allows. "The red lines are the Islamic Republic regime, Islam, and national security." Rafiei does not believe that authorities would dare arrest Karroubi, given his ties to the late Khomeini, although they might arrest the people around him if they continue their efforts to open Saba. 11.(S) Regarding Karroubi's goals for the station, Rafiei indicated that revenge for being denied his "rightful" place in the second round of elections played a part. He said Karroubi claims two million dead Iranians "voted" in the first round. He added Karroubi was an ethnic Lur, and the reputation of Lurs was that if affronted, they seek revenge to the death. Beyond this, according to Rafiei, Karroubi is worried that Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi, who he considers worse than Khamenei, will become the new supreme leader. Therefore, Karroubi wants to limit Khamenei's power at the same time as fighting Mesbah-Yazdi. Rafiei said Karroubi will not run for the Assembly of Experts this summer if the Guardians Council retains its power to vet candidates; he would instead use Saba TV as his voice. 12.(S) Rafiei said he himself has different goals for the station. He sees Saba TV as a vehicle for pitting the mullahs against each other, weakening them from the inside. He indicated he is strongly in favor of change in Iran and that in the past had worked with various opposition groups outside the country, even meeting with U.S. officials at the State Department and Congress in the 1980s. He now resides in Iran and said he has come to believe that Iranians need to make these changes themselves. DUBAI 00000292 003.2 OF 003 Plans for Saba Content -------------- 13.(S) According to Rafiei, the tape that was intended to serve as Saba's first broadcast contains the clandestine videotape of President Ahmadinejad talking about the aura of light he felt around himself while addressing the UN in September, as well as a concert by a popular female singer and an interview with reformist Abdullah Nouri, impeached as interior minister in ¶1998. Future content would be produced both in Iran and in Dubai, and could include U.S. programming dubbed into Farsi. Rafiei described Saba TV managing director Behruz Afkhami as "former IRGC but very pro-Western." He said Afkhami is more interested in breaking cultural barriers, while Karroubi is more interested in politics. Logistics -------------- 14.(S) According Rafiei, Karroubi is investing his own money in the station, and Karroubi's son is also involved in it. Rafiei mentioned that it was at times hard to get bank letters because some of the family assets, including companies, are not in their name. Rafiei claims to have invested his own money in the station and is a 40 percent holder as well as a manager. On a related note, he said that Karroubi's National Trust party has so far printed only one issue its new newspaper, and that heavy snows had prevented wide circulation. Comment -------------- 15.(S) Post cannot confirm whether Rafiei is in fact connected to Saba TV and whether the information he is conveying is credible. It seems surprising that someone known for past contacts with opposition groups would be asked to lead this project, given Karroubi's statements of loyalty to the system. It also seems surprising that at this precarious time for the project, a Saba manager would meet a USG official. It is possible he is in fact trying to assess the USG's position on Saba TV, perhaps even on behalf of the Iranian government. On that question, PolEconChief stated only that the U.S. as a rule supports diversity of voices in the mass media. DAVIS BURNS