A group of 15 men were arrested from workshops located in the city of Shahriar, southwest of Tehran, and the city of Varamin, southeast of the capital, the newspaper reported giving no further details.

On September 20, Iran's volunteer Bassij militia seized 2,000 satellite dishes from a workshop near Tehran.

Use and possession of satellite dishes are banned in the Islamic republic, punishable by fines and jail terms.

Iranian hardliners denounce foreign satellite broadcasts for trampling on Islamic values and say they are used increasingly by exiled opposition groups, especially those based in Los Angeles, California, to stir anti-government unrest.

But according to official estimates about three million households have access to satellite television, while security forces have in recent years only managed to seize 70,000 sets.

On January 21, the Council of Guardians, a conservative-controlled legislative watchdog, rejected a bill approved by the reformist parliament that would have allowed limited access to satellite television.

Meanwhile, two Iranian men identified only as Sattar A. and Hani L. were sentenced to 91 days in prison and 35 lashes each for trading in pornographic compact discs, said a statement from the southwestern Khuzestan province's judiciary.

Pornography is banned in the Islamic republic.

SPACE.WIRE