The Iraqi authorities have announced the cancellation of the licence of the Saudi Arabian television channel “MBC” to operate in the country.
This comes after dozens of supporters of Iraqi militias attacked the MBC studios in Baghdad in protest over a broadcast by the “MBC in a Week” program on Friday afternoon, October 18, entitled “The Millennium of Salvation from Terrorists,” that described leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s Quds Force as “faces of terrorism.”
Videos circulated on social media showed protesters stormed the channel’s premises, damaging its furniture and equipment as a fire appeared to engulf the structure.
In a statement issued on Saturday, October 19, the Iraqi Communication and Media Commission said, “Based on our duty entrusted to us under the laws and legislation to regulate the media sector, prevent violations, and deter violators of national values and public morals, and given the MBC satellite channel’s violation of media broadcasting regulations via its repeated violations and its attacks on the martyrs, leaders of victory, and heroic resistance leaders who are fighting the battle of honor against the usurping Zionist entity, we confirm taking all necessary legal measures and suspending it from operating in Iraq.”
The statement added, “We direct the executive body in our Commission to cancel the work license granted to MBC.”
The MBC report also mentioned several groups and notable figures including, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Hamas criticized the MBC report as a “yellow journalism” and demanded its immediate retraction and removal from all MBC platforms, along with a public apology.
They emphasised that the report not only harmed the channel’s credibility, but also humiliated resistance leaders who had given their lives for the liberation of Palestine and Al-Aqsa.
The report came at a time when Israel has been fighting cruel wars in Gaza and Lebanon, claiming to be targeting Hamas and Hezbollah while killing tens of thousands of people. Over the past year, it has also clashed with Iran’s allies in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria.
