TEHRAN, Dec 17: Iran’s parliament voted Tuesday to end an openly-flouted national ban on satellite television, and instead place restrictions on what residents of the Islamic republic are allowed to watch.

Deputies in the Majlis approved a text that commissioned the telecommunications ministry to develop over the next six months “receivers that can receive a limited number of foreign channels” whose broadcasts do not contravene Iran’s national and Islamic values.

The law also authorises state television to relay programming from some foreign media, and would give certain people such as academics and journalists unlimited satellite television access.

Reformist deputies argued that a total ban had proved impossible to enforce.

“Since the banning of dishes eight years ago, three million dishes and receivers have been sold and police have seized only 70,000 of them,” said Ali Asghar Amir Sherdoust, a member of the Majlis cultural commission.

But a minority conservative deputy, Mussavi Ghorbani, complained that the initiative opened the door for “the infiltration by foreign cultures of our society”, and called on security forces to intervene by swooping on satellite television equipment owners.

To become law, the bill needs to be approved by the Guardians Council, a conservative-controlled senate-like body that examines all laws to see if they are in conformity with Islamic law and the Iranian constitution.

The Guardians Council frequently rejects legislation passed by the Majlis, which has been held by reformists loyal to moderate President Mohammad Khatami since 2000.—AFP