Chicago, IL – The massive 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by President Obama Jan. 2, contains sanctions that effectivly ban Iran’s popular station, Press TV, from U.S. airwaves or cable networks. Press TV is still available on the internet.

Following the NDAA’s passage, Press TV interviewed Chicago anti-war leader Joe Iosbaker. the interview can be seen at http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/01/05/281926/us-has-torture-chambers-... . Iosbaker is also a spokesperson for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, and is one of the anti-war and international solidarity activists whose home was raided by the FBI.

Iosbaker told Press TV, “In order for there to be an anti-war movement, there has to be alternative sources of information. And they’re afraid of the anti-war movement because even in just the recent history, the anti-war movement has had consequences for the rulers here.”

The NDAA sanctions on Iran target the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and the President of the IRIB, Ezzatollah Zargami. The law calls for “placing them on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury.”

Iosbaker said to Press TV, “Anyone who has even a cursory understanding of history knows that the U.S. government has always been doing one of two things. They have always been either repressing dissent or they have been actively preparing to repress it.”

This is not the first such move by the U.S. The U.S. currently bans the popular and progressive Lebanese TV station Al-Manar. In 2008, a New York businessman was jailed for ‘material support for terrorism’ for including Al’Manar in satellite TV broadcast in the U.S.