The Independent reports that Iran has recently launched a 24-hour satellite television entertainment channel targeting audiences in the Arab world. The state-run iFilm channel will broadcast programmes dubbed into Arabic for viewers in Lebanon, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. The channel's launch comes three years after the start of Press TV, which the Islamic republic says is a bid to break the "stranglehold" of the West over the world media.

The Jordan Times reports that the government has dismissed allegations by an international media watchdog that two Iranian satellite TV stations were shut down in the Kingdom for political reasons. Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Nabil Sharif denied the closure of the English-language Press TV station, explaining that the accreditation of its correspondent in the Kingdom had expired.