Source: Radio Zamaneh

A senior commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards wants collaborators of what he refers to as "foreign and anti-Revolutionary" media to be treated as spies.

Mehr news agency reports today that Brigadier-General Massoud Jazaeri, cultural and press defence secretary of the armed forces urged for "clear regulations and laws" in confronting collaborators of such media outlets.

He added that established laws will clarify that "any connection or service to these media outlets is a crime and criminals should be confronted firmly."

These comments arrive two days after the Ministry of Intelligence reported the arrest of seven people accused of collaboration with Radio Farda, a US-supported Persian speaking radio based in Washington D. C. and Prague.

Radio Farda has rejected the allegations and announced that it has no collaborators inside Iran.

Jazaeri added that "without a doubt, any kind of collaboration with these foreign terrorist media constitutes espionage and should be confronted with the maximum penalty."

Currently over 65 journalists are behind bars in Iran without any clear charges.

Reporters Without Borders is concerned that some of them may be in danger of imminent execution for the charge of "enmity with God."

While numerous news publications have been banned in response to the post-election protests, Persian language media working outside Iran have also been accused by Iranian authorities of distorting the truth and being engaged in a plot to topple the Islamic Republic regime.

Jazaeri branded the activities of these media outlets as "neo-espionage" and maintained that people need to be alerted regarding their "satanic objectives."

He added that by establishing clear laws and alerting the people, "there will be a significant fall in the number of collaborators of these media outlets within the country."

... Payvand News - 02/09/10 ... --