BBC calls on government to tackle Iran 'intimidation'

The BBC has called on the UK government to challenge Iran over the "dramatic increase in anti-BBC rhetoric" coming out of the country in recent months.

BBC head of global news Peter Horrocks said that "intimidation and bullying" by Iran has reached unprecedented levels since the BBC aired a documentary on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He said that relatives of ten of the corporation's staff were arrested or intimidated after the programme on Iran's supreme leader was shown.

Attempts from within Iran to jam Persian language TV services such as BBC Persian and Voice of America's Persian News Network have also intensified in recent weeks.

In a post on the BBC Editors blog, Horrocks said: "The jamming prevents Iranian audiences viewing a vital free service of information.In the past week alone, hundreds of Iranian viewers have sent emails and used social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to reach out to us.

"They tell us how much they value us as a source of reliable independent news, ask us to persevere and to look for other - not prone to interference - ways of broadcasting BBC Persian TV."

Horrocks said that Iranian police and officials have been "arresting, questioning and intimidating" the relatives and friends of ten BBC staff in recent weeks, as well as confiscating passports, searching homes and making threats.

"The relatives have been told to tell the BBC staff to stop appearing on air, to return to Iran, or to secretly provide information on the BBC to the Iranian authorities," he said.

"Six independent documentary makers whose films have appeared on BBC Persian TV have also been arrested in Iran. Although these filmmakers have never been employed or commissioned by the BBC, they are paying the price for an indirect connection to the BBC."

Horrocks added that the attacks and threats have been accompanied by "a dramatic increase in anti-BBC rhetoric" from within Iran, including claims that BBC staff are working for MI6, or are involved in sexual crimes or terrorism.

Horrocks said that the problem is "wider than the BBC", and called on the British and other governments to "take all necessary means to deter the Iranian government from all these attempts to undermine free media".

In a statement, the Foreign Office said that the government "condemns utterly" pressure on the BBC from Iran and that it has directly raised the issue with authorities in Iran.

"The blocking of BBC Persian signals and arbitrary arrest of documentary makers not directly connected to the BBC by the Iranian regime should also be condemned," said a Foreign Office spokesperson.

"This action follows on from the arrests of scores of filmmakers, artists and writers as part of a widespread crackdown on freedom of expression in Iran over the past two years.

"We will work with the EU to end the unacceptable situation of electronic interference and the lack of a right to freedom of expression."

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