VZCZCXRO4741
PP RUEHBC RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHDE #0292/01 0181430
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P R 181430Z JAN 06
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7875
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZM/GCC C COLLECTIVE
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 1200
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0764
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDHP/DIA DHP-1 WASHINGTON DC

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 DUBAI 000292 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR TSOU; PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  1/18/2016 
TAGS: PINR ECPS IR PGOV SCUL TC
SUBJECT: SABA TV DENIED LICENSE TO BROADCAST FROM DUBAI 
(C-TN5-01220) 
 
REF: A. 04 DUBAI 6301, B. 04 DUBAI 5636 
 
DUBAI 00000292  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jason Davis, Consul General, Dubai , UAE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
1.(S) Summary:  Saba TV, a satellite network planned by former 
Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi on behalf of his 
new National Trust party, has been deemed illegal in Iran. Also 
denied a license to operate out of Dubai, it has yet to go on 
air. Reza Froushani Rafiei, who claims to be involved in the 
channel, maintains that Karroubi will pursue it despite the 
Iranian ban, in part out of revenge for being wronged in the 
presidential election, in part to curb the power of the supreme 
leader and his potential rival, Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi. Rafiei 
claimed to have a different goal for the station, seeing in it a 
vehicle to pit mullahs against mullahs, to weaken the system 
from within. Rafiei claimed Karroubi had no knowledge he was 
discussing the station with USG officials. Post cannot vouch for 
Rafiei's bona fides. End summary. 
 
Saba TV On Hold 
--------------- 
 
2.(S) Local media widely reported in late December that Iranian 
agents on a flight to Dubai tried to prevent a courier bringing 
Saba TV's first broadcast to Dubai. Reza Froushani Rafiei 
(please protect), who claims to be a manager at Saba TV, told 
PolEconChief January 14 that, after phone calls to Karroubi's 
people in Iran, the courier was finally allowed to leave the 
plane with the recordings. In the meantime, Rafiei said, he 
heard from Samacon, the satellite services provider in Dubai 
Media City (DMC), that the application of his company, SkyQuest, 
to broadcast out of Dubai to Iran had been approved; later the 
same day, however, he was informed by DMC management that the 
application had been denied, for unspecified reasons. He claimed 
that DMC knew from the beginning that SkyQuest would be 
broadcasting Karroubi's Saba TV. 
 
3.(C) Consul General spoke January 16 to Ahmed Bin Byat, 
Chairman of TECOM, the Dubai government entity that oversees 
Dubai Media City, asking whether it was true that DMC had 
initially approved, and then denied, Saba's request to set up in 
DCM. Bin Byat confirmed that Karroubi's request had been turned 
down, saying "we told them from the beginning that they could 
not be in DMC because they were affiliated with a political 
party. DMC allows only mainstream, commercial media outlets, not 
those representing the views of a particular party or 
government." (Note: Saba TV, although private, is to be an arm 
of Karroubi's new National Trust political party.) 
 
Likely Explanations 
------------------- 
 
4.(C) Bin Byat's legalistic justification notwithstanding, it is 
likely that concerns about relations with Iran led Dubai to deny 
Saba a license. While it is true that nearly all DMC media 
outlets are of the mainstream/commercial variety, affiliation 
with the US government did not, for example, prevent Al-Hurra 
Television and Radio Sawa from setting up shop in DMC. Such 
determinations are probably made by DMC on a case-by-case basis 
according to the potential political sensitivity of the 
applicant; it is unlikely that any station with a political axe 
to grind against a UAE neighbor would be granted a license to 
broadcast from DMC. 
 
5.(S) The conservative Iranian news agency "Fars" reported 
December 27 that "authorities in the United Arab Emirates 
prevented the Saba satellite television network from becoming 
operational...UAE officials would like to avoid any tension in 
relations with Iran, and that is why they decided to suspend 
Saba's operating license -- only a few days before the station 
was to start."  Rafiei told PolEconchief that he presumes this 
interpretation is accurate. He said he does not believe claims 
in the press that the U.S. played a role in the denial. 
(Background: Conservative Kayhan editor-in-chief Hossein 
Shari'atmadari December 28 blamed the US for stopping Saba TV: 
"A UAE company, after receiving an order from Saba TV, informed 
the satellite provider that the directors of the TV channel, who 
had been chosen by Mr. Karroubi, and the directors of the 
satellite and the staff of Saba TV, were mostly opponents of the 
Islamic Republic and that their programs were not against 
America but were actually in harmony with the American-sponsored 
propaganda campaign against Iran. Apparently, this was accepted 
by the American satellite center at first, but later Mr. 
Karroubi was describe as a person loyal to the Islamic 
 
DUBAI 00000292  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Revolution, and the company refused to give satellite space 
hired by the UAE to his TV on the grounds that it was contrary 
to the aims of the American government!" End Background) 
 
6.(S) Rafiei said he has not yet told Karroubi that DMC denied 
Saba a license. Instead he is telling Karroubi that the death of 
Dubai Ruler Sheikh Maktoum has slowed down processing of the 
license. In the meantime he is looking into other broadcasting 
options. He claimed that Karroubi had no knowledge that he was 
discussing the station with USG officials. 
 
Iran Says No to Private Broadcasting 
------------------------------------ 
 
7.(S) Meanwhile in Iran, the Supreme National Security Council 
declared Saba TV and any cooperation with it illegal, on the 
grounds that the constitution forbids independent radio or TV in 
Iran. Other Iranian authorities have attacked Karroubi as 
"anti-nationalist" and "favoring Westerners," according to a 
December 27 statement by Reporters Without Borders deploring the 
ban.  Rafiei believes that Supreme Leader Khamenei was 
responsible for the decision to ban the station, despite his 
never having told Karroubi "no" directly. 
 
Karroubi Fights Back 
-------------------- 
 
8.(S) Karroubi responded to the attacks against him by going on 
the offensive, telling the Iranian press December 29, "They have 
taken even God's space from us." He accused SNSC Secretary Ali 
Larijani of leading the opposition to Saba. Karroubi objected to 
the constitutional grounds for denying Saba TV permission to 
broadcast, saying that the constitution does not cover stations 
based outside of the country. Rafiei intimated that Larijani, 
formerly head of Iranian broadcasting, has financial reasons for 
opposing competition to state monopoly broadcasting. 
 
9.(S) According to Rafiei, other groups outside of Karroubi's 
new National Trust party are rallying behind his quest for a 
station and are willing to support him politically. Prior to the 
SNSC declaration that private stations are illegal, other 
groups, including the conservative paramilitary group Ansar-e 
Hizballah, had announced their own intentions to start stations 
(ref b). Rafiei surmised that this allowed authorities to tell 
Karroubi when they turned him down, "see, we're turning everyone 
down, not just you." 
 
What is Karroubi Fighting For? 
------------------------------ 
 
10.(S) In his statements to the Iranian press December 29, 
Karroubi said his party is based on the constitution and the 
guidelines of the system determined by the late Iman Khomeini, 
and that authorities should wait to see the content of Saba 
before judging whether its programs were "outside" the system or 
not. He said he will continue his efforts as far as the law 
allows. "The red lines are the Islamic Republic regime, Islam, 
and national security." Rafiei does not believe that authorities 
would dare arrest Karroubi, given his ties to the late Khomeini, 
although they might arrest the people around him if they 
continue their efforts to open Saba. 
 
11.(S) Regarding Karroubi's goals for the station, Rafiei 
indicated that revenge for being denied his "rightful" place in 
the second round of elections played a part. He said Karroubi 
claims two million dead Iranians "voted" in the first round. He 
added Karroubi was an ethnic Lur, and the reputation of Lurs was 
that if affronted, they seek revenge to the death. Beyond this, 
according to Rafiei, Karroubi is worried that Ayatollah 
Mesbah-Yazdi, who he considers worse than Khamenei, will become 
the new supreme leader. Therefore, Karroubi wants to limit 
Khamenei's power at the same time as fighting Mesbah-Yazdi. 
Rafiei said Karroubi will not run for the Assembly of Experts 
this summer if the Guardians Council retains its power to vet 
candidates; he would instead use Saba TV as his voice. 
 
12.(S) Rafiei said he himself has different goals for the 
station. He sees Saba TV as a vehicle for pitting the mullahs 
against each other, weakening them from the inside. He indicated 
he is strongly in favor of change in Iran and that in the past 
had worked with various opposition groups outside the country, 
even meeting with U.S. officials at the State Department and 
Congress in the 1980s. He now resides in Iran and said he has 
come to believe that Iranians need to make these changes 
themselves. 
 
 
DUBAI 00000292  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Plans for Saba Content 
---------------------- 
 
13.(S) According to Rafiei, the tape that was intended to serve 
as Saba's first broadcast contains the clandestine videotape of 
President Ahmadinejad talking about the aura of light he felt 
around himself while addressing the UN in September, as well as 
a concert by a popular female singer and an interview with 
reformist Abdullah Nouri, impeached as interior minister in 
¶1998. Future content would be produced both in Iran and in 
Dubai, and could include U.S. programming dubbed into Farsi. 
Rafiei described Saba TV managing director Behruz Afkhami as 
"former IRGC but very pro-Western." He said Afkhami is more 
interested in breaking cultural barriers, while Karroubi is more 
interested in politics. 
 
Logistics 
--------- 
 
14.(S) According Rafiei, Karroubi is investing his own money in 
the station, and Karroubi's son is also involved in it. Rafiei 
mentioned that it was at times hard to get bank letters because 
some of the family assets, including companies, are not in their 
name. Rafiei claims to have invested his own money in the 
station and is a 40 percent holder as well as a manager. On a 
related note, he said that Karroubi's National Trust party has 
so far printed only one issue its new newspaper, and that heavy 
snows had prevented wide circulation. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
15.(S) Post cannot confirm whether Rafiei is in fact connected 
to Saba TV and whether the information he is conveying is 
credible. It seems surprising that someone known for past 
contacts with opposition groups would be asked to lead this 
project, given Karroubi's statements of loyalty to the system. 
It also seems surprising that at this precarious time for the 
project, a Saba manager would meet a USG official. It is 
possible he is in fact trying to assess the USG's position on 
Saba TV, perhaps even on behalf of the Iranian government. On 
that question, PolEconChief stated only that the U.S. as a rule 
supports diversity of voices in the mass media. 
 
 
 
 
 
DAVIS 
BURNS