Tehran, Iran, May 1
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Iran is currently waiting for police investigation results of a case of assassination of a head of GEM TV channel.
Tehran has been following the case through diplomatic channels and has asked the Turkish government to clarify the case, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi told Trend May 1.
The head of GEM TV channel who last year had been sentenced in absentia to six years in prison by a Tehran court, was shot dead in Istanbul together with a business partner on April 29 evening.
Saeed Karimian and another Iranian were driving in Istanbul's Maslak neighborhood after 8 p.m. (1.00 p.m. ET) when their car was stopped by a SUV and shots were fired.
Karimian was found dead by emergency services arriving at the scene.
It was not clear if there were multiple shooters. The SUV was later found abandoned and burned.
GEM TV is known for entertainment satellite channels that dub foreign films and Western television programs into Farsi for Iranians. It also produces movies and TV series.
But in Iran, where the government tries to instil Islamic values by thoroughly regulating popular culture, the satellite broadcaster's programing has angered authorities, who view it as part of a cultural "soft war" waged by the West.
Last year a Revolutionary Court in Tehran tried Karimian in absentia and sentenced him to six years in jail on charges of "acting against national security" and "propaganda against the state".
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