Baghdad -- Iran may have been behind the recent closure of the Baghdad bureau of a popular pan-Arab satellite channel, a television report said on Friday.

Iraq's cabinet voted on Thursday to shut down al-Arabiya's office in Baghdad for a period of one month, charging it with sectarian reporting.

A report by the Iraqi television channel al-Zora said that a newspaper reporter with ties to Iran was behind al-Arabiya's closure.

The report did not delve into the specifics behind the case.

The Dubai-based channel al-Arabiya was launched in February 2003.

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