No immediate comment was available from Hispasat. "Iran will take the necessary legal measures to confront this new wave of attacks by the Americans and Europeans targeting its media," IRIB's official responsible for international affairs, Mohammed Sarafraz, said on its website.
Press TV and Hispan TV issued a joint news release denouncing what they called a "flagrant violation of freedom of speech" and "attempt to silence the truth-telling media." The channels said they had "not received any notice on the violation of the law or the decision to take it off the air," adding that the Spanish government gave no legal reason for the move.
They said it was worth recalling that "Hispasat is partly owned by Paris-based Eutelsat SA satellite provider that removed Iranian channels off the air in October." Eutelsat and Britain's Arqiva stopped broadcasting Iranian state television channels in October in a move slammed by Tehran as "without legal justification."