Saudi MBC Group dismisses news director over defaming resistance icons

Saudi media conglomerate MBC Group has reportedly dismissed its news director after a report was aired, which branded leaders and commanders of resistance groups in the region as “terrorists.”

The largest and leading media company in West Asia and North Africa announced on Monday that it had taken the decision against Musaed al-Thubaiti.

Earlier, the media regulatory body in Saudi Arabia had summoned officials from MBC, referring them to relevant authorities for investigation following disrespect to resistance icons.

The General Authority of Media Regulation (GAMR) announced in a statement that it had called in managers of the television channel, and highlighted that the report was “in violation of the Kingdom’s media regulations and policy.”

The commission emphasized that “it continuously monitors the extent of the media’s commitment to the Kingdom’s media regulations and content controls, and will not be lenient towards any violation.”

In reaction to insult, Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission revoked the Saudi-owned MBC television channel license in the country and ordered the broadcaster to close its bureau in Baghdad.

The decision came after hundreds of protesters stormed MBC offices in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on October 19, destroying equipment and setting fire to parts of the building.

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The MBC report categorized the Axis of Resistance, which includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Palestinian Hamas, Yemen’s Ansarullah, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, alongside figures such as Osama bin Laden, labeling them as terrorists.

Among those named in the report were Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in an Israeli strike on southern Beirut last month, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran in late July.

It also mentioned Haniyeh’s successor Yahya Sinwar, who organized the surprise and large-scale Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Zionist entity on October 7 last year.

Resistance groups – most notably Hamas and Hezbollah, but also their allies in Yemen, Iraq and Syria – have been launching anti-Israeli operations in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for more than a year.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has also been conducting operations against sensitive targets across the occupied territories since October 7 last year, when the Israeli regime began the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

The Iraqi coalition has also carried out retaliatory attacks against the US occupation bases across Iraq and neighboring Syria over Washington’s unbridled political, military, and intelligence support for Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.

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