Iran launches its answer to CNN and BBC World.

Number one goal: To break the media stranglehold of the West.

Iran's state broadcaster is to launch "Press TV" on July 2 at a time of mounting international tension over its nuclear program, complete with international journalists brought in from foreign countries including Britain.

The Tehran-based channel is promising the usual diet of on-the-half-hour news bulletins, talk shows and documentaries familiar to viewers of established names like CNN and BBC World but with a distinctly Iranian spin.

"To break the global media stranglehold of Western outlets," is the number one goal listed on the new channel's website.

In other words, the world according to Shia.

"Since September 11 [2001], Western bias has divided the media into two camps: those that favor their policies make up one group and the rest of the media are attached to radical Islamic groups like al-Qaeda," he said. "We want to show that there is a different view. Iran and the Shiites in particular have become a focal point of world propaganda. From the media point of view, we are trying to give a second eye to Western audiences," Sarafraz told a news conference to mark the channel's launch.