Ahmad Norouzi issued a statement on Monday after the US and the EU threatened to impose heavy fines and bring criminal charges against satellite providers broadcasting the Gaza-based channel. It followed the television network's suspension from the French satellite provider Eutelsat after an Israeli complaint, according to Press TV.
Norouzi said that al-Aqsa TV was not only removed from all European and American satellites in "a joint US-EU plot," but also received threats of sanctions from satellite companies based on a fake anti-terrorism law.
"This desperate act came after 25 colleagues of the network sacrificed their lives to deliver the voice and images of the oppressed people of Gaza and were martyred in violation of all international rules," he said.
"It is another example of the brutality of the usurping Israeli regime ... throughout its history of occupation."
Norouzi also noted that the US and European leaders had shown a "humiliating reaction" to the enlightening role played by al-Aqsa TV.
The IRIB World Service "calls on all media activists in the field of resistance ... who have now lost one of the most important media outlets engaged in exposing Zionist crimes, to condemn this move and strengthen their opposition to Western media censorship."
The Arabic-language channel, affiliated with the Hamas resistance movement, has been a crucial source of information about the Israeli genocide in Gaza and violent attacks in the West Bank.
MNA