Iran orders Spanish television crew to leave

Madrid – The Iranian government has ordered the expulsion of a Spanish television crew covering protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, one of the journalists said Monday.

Yolanda Alvarez of the RTVE public broadcasting network said in a radio interview that the Iranian authorities "have asked us to leave the country today."

She later said in a live television broadcast that she had received another call indicating she would be allowed to stay until Thursday, the day her visa expires.

But she said she was receiving "contradictory" information.

"We are the unwelcome witnesses.., they want to get rid of all the foreign media.., the streets last night were full of ant-riot police," she said in the RTVE radio interview.

"The reason there has been no repression (until now) is definitely because they know we were there."

Several foreign news organisations complained Sunday that Iranian authorities were blocking their reporters from covering protests.

Foreign media converged in Iran to cover Friday’s presidential election, whose official result sparked violent protests in Tehran after Ahmadinejad was declared the winner by a landslide.

AFP / Expatica