New York Times, 15 Jan 2013, Thomas Erdbring, via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "One of Iran's most popular satellite channels, GEM TV, operating from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and broadcasting illegally into the country, was taken offline without explanation. Its Web site was also down, adding to the mystery. ... On Monday, with the Iranian news media silent, wild rumors flew about the causes of the blackout, with some describing a technically complicated government crackdown and others a shrewd plot to get people to subscribe online for a monthly fee. 'First, they made us addicted [to its soap operas], and now, they are trying to get money out of us,' said the doorman of a building in West Tehran. ... Millions of Iranians in possession of illegal satellite equipment smuggled into the country and sold for less than $150 can watch an array of news programs, political talk shows and sometimes raunchy soaps. On Monday, another popular channel, Manoto, operating out of London, broadcast the Golden Globes. ... There are indications that GEM TV has closer ties with the Iran government than do other satellite channels based abroad. On Dec. 16, the semiofficial Tabnak Web site reported the arrest in Tehran of several people doing Persian voice-overs for the channel's other hit series, 'The Sultan's Harem,' another originally Turkish production popular in the Middle East." -- Gem TV is "broadcasting illegally" in the eyes of the Tehran regime, but any past international laws requiring the permission of the recipient nation are now generally and globally ignored. The exception would be Western satellite companies that have recently removed Iranian channels in response to international sanctions against Iran. See also gemonline.tv, and especially this announcement, suggesting that there has been a recent change or satellite and/or satellite frequency.

The Majalla, 7 Jan 2013, Farahmand Alipour: "In November 1997, the leaders of the Islamic Republic decided to launch new TV channels to propagate their Islamic views and broadcast the self-professed ‘voice of the revolution’. These satellite TV channels started their work under the name Sahar, literally meaning “dawn”; programs were broadcast in Russian, Turkish, Urdu, Arabic, Azeri, French, Bosnian, and Kurdish. All of these continue operating and expanding their broadcasts, except those aired in Russian and Turkish. ... Al-Alam is a Tehran-based, Arabic-language television network that began its work at the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. From its birth, it was evident that the main target audience was Iraq’s Shi’ite population. Although Al-Alam lags far behind Al-Jazeera and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya in terms of popularity and penetration, it has been influential among the Shi’ite populations of Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen. ... In 2007, Iran launched its 24-hour English-language television channel Press TV, with the aim of breaking the monopoly of Western media. This was Iran’s first serious attempt at entering the arena of Western media. It has thus far failed in this mission, unable to breach the popularity of regional rival Al-Jazeera and certainly unable to compete with the quality of Western media. ... Hispan TV, the latest international 24-hour news channel launched by Iran, mainly targets South American countries. ... The channel appears to be totally out of touch with its target audience, mainly airing low-budget Iranian shows dubbed into Spanish and religious documentaries. ... Iranian officials have made costly mistakes in prioritizing their target audience. Instead of focusing their efforts on the domestic audience, they are trying to win over viewers abroad. In dealing with the needs of their own citizens, Iranian officials have so far excelled in jamming satellite signals and prohibiting the ownership of satellite dishes, while monopolizing the running of any kind of TV or radio station." -- Recommended reading. This is a good overview of Iran's international television broadcasting.

RFE/RL, 15 Jan 2013, Golnaz Esfandiari: "Stop writing about Iran, or face the consequences. That's the message being sent to Iranian journalists working outside the country, along with warnings that their reputations, finances, and families are at risk should they refuse to comply. ... One of the most recent examples is a claim made on January 3 by the hard-line 'Bultannews,' which is said to be close to security bodies. The website quoted an 'informed source' as saying that an intelligence body is aiming to create judicial cases against Iranians working for 'counterrevolutionary' networks supporting 'terrorists,' and obtaining international arrest warrants against them. The unnamed source added that all of the belongings and bank accounts of those individuals would be investigated and 'dealt with.' The website said those working with Persian-language media -- including Radio Farda, BBC, and VOA -- would be subjected to the measures."

Reuters, 15 Jan 2013: "On Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, Iran's ground forces commander, said that Iran was now capable of disrupting its enemies' communications. ... It was unclear whether Pourdastan was referring to military targets that Iran might consider a threat or civilian targets, such as what it considers to be subversive foreign media. Satellite operators and broadcasters have repeatedly accused Iran of jamming their satellite signals. European satellite provider Eutelsat complained to international regulators last year that Iran had jammed signals from Persian-language channels broadcast by the BBC, Voice of America, and other operators."