Image copyright Saeed Karimian Image caption Saeed Karimian was killed in Istanbul

The founder and chairman of the Persian-language Gem TV company has been killed in Istanbul.

Saeed Karimian, 45, was shot dead in the Maslak neighbourhood, along with his Kuwaiti business partner.

The vehicle used in the apparent assassination was later found burnt out. Turkish police are investigating.

Mr Karimian had previously been tried in absentia by a Tehran court and sentenced to six years in prison for spreading propaganda against Iran.

It is understood he died immediately after the gunmen - who were reportedly masked - opened fire on the vehicle on Saturday evening, while his business partner died later in hospital.

Gem TV, which dubs foreign and Western shows into Persian and broadcasts them into Iran, has been criticised by Iran for showing programmes that go against Islamic values and has been accused of spreading Western culture.

Family members told the BBC's Jiyar Gol that Mr Karimian had been threatened by the regime the past three months, and as a result was planning to leave Istanbul and move back to London.

However, sources within the Turkish government have suggested the killing may be related to business and gangs, our correspondent says.

Gem Group was initially established in London, but later expanded to Dubai. According to the group's website, it has 17 Persian-language channels, plus one each in Kurdish, Azeri and Arabic.</s>The founder and chairman of the Persian-language Gem TV company has been killed in Istanbul.

Saeed Karimian was shot dead in the Maslak neighbourhood, along with his Kuwaiti business partner.

The vehicle used in the apparent assassination was later found burnt out. Turkish police are investigating.

Mr Karimian had previously been tried in absentia by a Tehran court and sentenced to six years in prison for spreading propaganda against Iran.

Gem TV dubs foreign and Western shows into Persian and broadcasts them into Iran.

Gem Group was initially established in London, but later expanded to Dubai. According to the group's website, it has 17 Persian-language channels, plus one each in Kurdish, Azeri and Arabic.</s>The founder and chairman of the Persian-language Gem TV company has been shot dead in Istanbul, media reports say.

Saeed Karimian was reportedly shot dead along with his Kuwaiti business partner in Istanbul’s Maslak neighborhood late on April 29.

Karimian had been sentenced in absentia by an Iranian court to six years in prison for spreading propaganda against Iran.

The Gem Group was established in London in 2006, but its headquarters later relocated to Dubai.

The group’s website claims that it has 17 Persian-language channels and one channel apiece broadcasting in Kurdish, Azeri, and Arabic.

Based on reporting by the BBC and en.alarm.ir</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The Iranian founder of a Farsi-language satellite television network was shot dead in Istanbul alongside a Kuwaiti business partner, Turkish media reported Sunday, just months after reportedly being convicted of spreading "propaganda" against the Islamic Republic. Gunmen opened fire on Saeed Karimian of GEM TV after cutting off his car with an SUV in Istanbul late Saturday night, Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper reported.

Start the conversation, or Read more at New York Daily News.</s>The head of an Iranian satellite television network channel who last year was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison by a Tehran court was shot dead in Istanbul together with a business partner, Turkey's Dogan news agency said on Sunday. GEM TV founder Saeed Karimian and another Iranian were driving in Istanbul's Maslak neighborhood after 8 p.m. on Saturday when their car was stopped by a jeep and shots were fired, Dogan said.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Jerusalem Post.</s>The head of an Iranian satellite television network channel who last year was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison by a Tehran court was shot dead in Istanbul together with a business partner, Turkey’s Dogan news agency said on Sunday.

GEM TV founder Saeed Karimian and another Iranian were driving in Istanbul’s Maslak neighbourhood after 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Saturday when their car was stopped by a jeep and shots were fired, Dogan said.

Karimian was found dead by emergency services arriving at the scene, Dogan said. His associate was taken to hospital but could not be revived.

It was not clear if there were multiple shooters. The jeep was later found abandoned and burned. Istanbul police declined to comment on the shooting when contacted by Reuters.

Dogan quoted the mayor of Istanbul’s Sariyer district as saying initial police findings suggested the shooting may have prompted by a financial disagreement involving Karimian.

GEM TV is known for entertainment satellite channels that dub foreign films and Western television programmes into Farsi for Iranians. It also produces movies and TV series.

But in Iran, where the government tries to instil Islamic values by strictly regulating popular culture, the satellite broadcaster’s programming 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”.</s>VOA – Turkish media reports say the Iranian owner of a leading Farsi-language satellite television network has been shot dead in Istanbul, along with another man. Saeed Karimian, the owner of GEM TV, was gunned down late Saturday. The other man killed was reported to be a business partner. No motive for the killing is known. Based in Dubai, GEM TV dubs Turkish soap operas and other entertainment shows into Farsi and broadcasts them into Iran. Tehran has been critical of GEM TV and similar satellite channels, accusing them of trying to spread Western culture in the country.

Iranian media said Karimian had been convicted months of ago, in absentia, of spreading “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic.</s>The founder of a Farsi-language satellite television network has been assassinated in Istanbul, together with his Kuwaiti business partner.

Saeed Karimian, CEO of GEM TV was shot to death after his car was blocked by an SUV, effectively trapping him and his partner in the Maslak neighborhood. Karimian, 45, had previously been tried in abstentia by a Tehran court, according to the BBC. He was sentenced to six years in prison for “spreading propaganda against Iran.”

According to the report, the gunmen were masked and opened fire on the vehicle. Karimian reportedly died instantly; his partner died later in the hospital, the BBC reported. The SUV used in the attack was later discovered torched and abandoned.

Family members told the BBC that Karimian had been threatened repeatedly by the Tehran regime over the past three months and was planning to quit Istanbul to move to London as a result.

The Saturday night attack was first reported by Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper and then by international media. The assassination followed an alleged Iranian court decision in March to sentence Karimian to sentence him to prison for making “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic.”

GEM TV was first initially established in London and then expanded to Dubai. The network, which has 17 Persian-language channels, dubs foreign and Western programs into Farsi (Persian) and broadcasts them into Iran, despite criticism by the Tehran government for showing programs that allegedly defy Islamic values and “spread Western culture.” The network also has a channel in Kurdish, Azeri and Arabic.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Iranian founder of a Farsi-language satellite television network was shot dead in Istanbul alongside a Kuwaiti business partner, Turkish media reported Sunday, just months after reportedly being convicted of spreading "propaganda" against the Islamic Republic.



Gunmen opened fire on Saeed Karimian of GEM TV after cutting off his car with an SUV in Istanbul late Saturday night, Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper reported. Police later found the SUV abandoned and burned, the newspaper said.



The private Dogan news agency identified the dead Kuwaiti by the initials M.M. Kuwait's state-run KUNA news agency, quoting the consul general in Istanbul, confirmed a Kuwaiti citizen was gunned down, without elaborating.



GEM TV, which has offices in Dubai, Turkey and elsewhere, rebroadcasts Turkish soap operas and other entertainment shows dubbed into Farsi. A website for Karimian describes the network as being set up in 2001 in London and later moving to the United Arab Emirates.



A man who answered the telephone at GEM TV's office in Dubai declined to comment. Hurriyet reported that Karimian was a dual Iranian-British national. The Foreign Office declined to immediately comment.



While satellite television is popular in Iran, owning a satellite dish is illegal. Police and security forces occasionally smash dishes and seize receivers as authorities routinely denounce the Western pop culture shown on satellite channels as decadent and un-Islamic.



Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, considered to be close to the country's hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, described GEM as an opposition network and said that Karimian had been given a prison sentence for "propaganda," without elaborating.



Tasnim also reported that both Karimian and his father had ties to the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. That Iranian exile group, known by the initials MEK, sided with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.



In a statement, the MEK denied the Iranian claims that Karimian and his father had links to the group. The MEK blamed the Revolutionary Guard for the killings, noting they were carried out on the eve of a day honoring the Guard. It offered no other evidence to support the assertion.



___



Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Hussain al-Qatari in Kuwait City contributed to this report.</s>ISTANBUL, April 30 — The head of an Iranian satellite television network who last year was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison by a Tehran court was shot dead in Istanbul together with a business partner, Turkey’s Dogan news agency said today.

A view of the scene where GEM TV founder Saeed Karimian was shot dead in Istanbul, Turkey April 29, 2017 in this still image taken from video. — Reuters picGEM TV founder Saeed Karimian and an associate were driving in Istanbul’s Maslak neighbourhood after 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) yesterday when their car was blocked by a jeep and shots were fired, Dogan said.

Karimian was found dead by emergency services arriving at the scene, Dogan said. His associate was taken to hospital but could not be revived.

Dogan described both victims as being of Iranian origin. The Hurriyet Daily News identified Karimian as a British national and his associate as a Kuwaiti.

Two masked shooters got out of the jeep before opening fire, Hurriyet said.

The jeep was later found abandoned and burned. Istanbul police declined to comment on the shooting when contacted by Reuters.

Dogan quoted the mayor of Istanbul’s Sariyer district as saying initial police findings suggested the shooting may have prompted by a financial disagreement involving Karimian.

GEM TV is known for entertainment satellite channels that dub foreign films and Western television programmes into Farsi for Iranians. It also produces movies and TV series.

But in Iran, where the government tries to instil Islamic values by strictly regulating popular culture, the satellite broadcaster’s programming 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”. — Reuters
Saeed Karimian, the founder and director of GEM TV, a Persian language network based in Dubai, is shot dead in Istanbul, Turkey, along with his Kuwaiti business partner. Karimian had previously been tried in absentia by a Tehran court and sentenced to six years in prison for spreading propaganda against Iran.