Iran: US counter-terror office run by 'Ashkenazi Jew'

Iranian TV says "Jewish" US government official was behind efforts to block the station's access to the West.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Press TV Newsroom R370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi)
Press TV Newsroom R370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi)
Iranian state media outlet Press TV claimed over the weekend that a “Jewish” government official was behind efforts to block the station’s access to the West.
Press TV reported on its website on Saturday that it has “learned that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – an agency of the US Treasury Department” is headed by “an Ashkenazi Jew called Adam Szubin.”
The article claims that Szubin is behind pressure on Intelsat, a provider of worldwide satellite services for media companies. On June 19, Intelsat announced that it would no longer provide services to Iranian channels including Press TV, which has been sanctioned by the US government.
An Adam J. Szubin does in fact work for the Treasury Department, but his profile on the government website of course does not mention his ethnic background. Iranian government officials and the Iranian media have often made anti-Semitic statements.
Press TV has also been removed from several other Western countries, including Britain, France, Germany and Spain. The article states that the “Israeli lobby in the United States” has also supported the European efforts to block the station.
The US consulate in Herat in western Afghanistan asked the city’s cable TV provider to immediately remove Press TV from its platform, according to the report. The provider was supposedly instructed to replace the broadcast with CNN or BBC. According to the report, this is the first time US officials have asked an Afghan cable provider to stop broadcasting Press TV since it entered the Afghan market four years ago.