Iran Opens Second TV Station Close to Iraqi Border

Text of report by Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran West Azarbayjan Provincial TV on 5 January

[Announcer] A second TV station has been set up in Sardasht [in West Azarbayjan Province, close to the border with Iraq].

[Correspondent - recording] During a ceremony for the opening of the TV station, Mr Shokrnia, the director-general of the West Azarbayjan Centre of the Voice and Vision [Iranian radio and TV organization], said: Some 500m rials [around 62,000 dollars] were spent to make the TV station operational. The opening of the TV station will solve the problems which around 20 per cent of the inhabitants of Sardasht faced and, up to now, were not able to receive the pictures of the first, second, third and fourth [national TV] networks properly. The Friday prayer leader of Sardasht, the governor and a group of officials of Sardasht and officials of the West Azarbayjan Centre of the Voice and Vision took part in the ceremony.

Mr Shokrnia said: The TV station will also act as a substitute for the first TV station in Sardasht in case of a problem with the reception of the pictures of the first TV station.

Mr Shokrnia, the director-general of the West Azarbayjan Centre of the Voice and Vision, thanked the governor and the commander of the border regiment of Sardasht for their cooperation in the setting up of the TV station, and added: The people of Sardasht would be able to receive various TV channels via the station.

Before the opening ceremony, the Friday prayer leader, governor and a group of officials of Sardasht, in a joint meeting with the director-general and a number of officials of the West Azarbayjan Centre of the Voice and Vision, discussed the issue of providing a piece of land for a news centre in Sardasht, the television programmes and coverage in that city.

In the meeting, the Friday prayer leader of Sardasht pointed to the mission and heavy responsibility shouldered by the employees of the Voice and Vision, and pointed to the role of this medium in the dissemination of information, planning and producing of ethical programmes, and said that various art forms should be used and religious figures and subject matters should be the topic of TV programmes. He said it was essential that the budget needed [by the TV station] should be provided.

In the meeting, the governor of Sardasht [Mr Partow'i] also stressed the need for a news centre in Sardasht, and called on the city’s officials to take the necessary measures.

Mr Partow’i said the role of the Voice and Vision in the production of TV programmes which were appropriate to the public culture was important, and thanked the officials of the West Azarbayjan Centre of the Voice and Vision in this regard.