April 4th, 2026, Metro Center: The decision to close the offices of NRT is against the law of journalism, Metro calls on the Kurdistan Regional Government and the judiciary to review the decision of closing the offices of the channel and asks for NRT to be allowed to do its media work.

Meanwhile, the legal department of Metro Center stated that the decision used to close the channel (Decision No. 7 of 1997) applies to official institutions of the Kurdistan Regional Government and does not extend to media institutions. Therefore, even if the channel had violated the law, the case should have been addressed in accordance with Law No. 35 of 2007 on Journalism and the guidelines of the Ministry of Culture, rather than by resorting to unrelated laws and decisions.

On February 4th, 2026, a security force raided the office of NRT in Erbil and closed it down, preventing the channel from operating. Later, their office in Duhok was also closed on the same day.

Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw said in an official statement: The channel was closed by decision No. 7 of 1997 due to disrespect to the national symbols.