TEHRAN — Reacting to the seizure of the domains of Iranian media websites, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Wednesday that the current U.S. administration is following exactly the path of the Donald Trump administration, which will only lead to a “double defeat for Washington”.

According to the Mehr news agency, Khatibzadeh called the U.S. move to block Iranian websites a systematic effort to undermine “free speech” at global level and silence independent voices by media.

Calling the continuation of these double standards by Washington “shameful”, Khatibzadeh said, "The current U.S. administration is following exactly the path of the previous U.S. administration, which will only lead to a double defeat for Washington."

"While rejecting this illegal and bullying action, the Islamic Republic of Iran will pursue the issue through legal channels," he stressed.

Earlier, the head of the Press Office of the Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations in New York called Washington's move an attempt to muzzle free speech.

He added that the United States was trying to muzzle free speech. “While rejecting this illegal and bullying action, which is an attempt at limiting the freedom of expression, the issue will be pursued through legal channels."

Late on Tuesday, the websites of a number of Iranian news media outlets, most notably the English-language Press TV and the Arabic-language Al Alam, as well as regional media outlets close to Iran, were blocked with a message showing that the websites were seized by the government of the United States.

“The domain presstv.com has been seized by the United States Government in accordance with a seizure warrant...as part of a law enforcement action by the Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement and Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the message on Press TV website read.

"The domain presstv.com has been seized by the United States Government in accordance with a seizure warrant...as part of a law enforcement action by the Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement and Federal Bureau of Investigation," the message read.

The websites of Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam television news network, Yemen’s al-Masirah TV channel and Bahrain's Lualua television network were also among the targeted outlets.

Tehran Times readers on the Twitter have reacted to the U.S. move. Asad Abukhalil, a professor at California State University, has said, “Trump did not do this, Biden did.”

Benjamin Norton, assistant editor at The Grey Zone, has said, “The U.S. government launches another attack on freedom of press and speech.”

Norton added, “The U.S. empire thinks it has the right to censor and steal any media outlet anywhere in the world. It's a true global dictatorship.”

Rania Khalek, an American journalist, has also censured the move, saying, “And then you wonder why countries on America’s hit list see the internet as a weapon of empire.”

Another person has cited George Orwell who has said, "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."