LONDON: Iranian authorities have significantly increased their long-standing threats against journalists associated with the BBC, The Guardian reported on Monday.
The journalists working for BBC Persian, based in London, have found themselves on the receiving end of offensive messages.
The harassment has also included physical intimidation and alarming threats of sexual assault.
There has been “a marked spike in harassment during and since the BBC News Persian coverage of protests at the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022,” said Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, the lead counsel for BBC News Persian.
The ordeal has persisted for over a decade, with authorities in Iran now targeting not only BBC Persian journalists based in London but also their relatives within Iran.
The Guardian reported that staff members are in “constant fear” and that they are being supported by therapists and specialists in post-traumatic stress disorder.
Iran, ranked as the world’s second-largest jailer of journalists per capita, initiated its harassment against BBC Persian staff in 2009 during mass protests triggered by a disputed presidential election.
Subsequent investigations in 2017 labeled the reporting as a threat to Iran’s “national security.”
In October 2022, authorities took another alarming step by adding the BBC to a list of organizations and individuals accused of engaging in “deliberate actions in support of terrorism, incitement of violence, and human rights abuses.”
This move resulted in stringent financial restrictions placed on 152 current and former BBC Persian employees, freezing their assets in Iran and imposing a ban on property transactions for them and their families.
The sustained threats and pressures have compelled BBC Persian journalists to make difficult decisions, leading to some leaving their roles and others choosing to work off-camera or under pseudonyms.
Additionally, staff from another Farsi-language news outlet based in London, Iran International, have also been subject to threats and intimidation by Iranian authorities due to their reporting on last year’s uprisings following Amini’s death.
Earlier in September, the network resumed operations from a new high-security studio in north London, following a period of closure since February due to alleged threats from the Iranian government.
