WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY BBC WORLD SERVICE

(TRUK0171)

Executive Summary

1. The BBC World Service faces significant media freedom challenges including transnational repression of its journalists.  We see pressures on our staff globally increasing with journalists coming under fire for simply doing their job. 

2. Over 300 BBC World Service journalists – around 15% - now operate in exile.  This includes BBC News Persian who have their base in London, the BBC News Russian team, part of which is now based in Latvia, and those of the BBC News Ukraine’s Kyiv-based staff who relocated to Warsaw.

3. Pressures faced by journalists include state interference, harassment, disinformation campaigns and criminal charges, which are consistently used to attempt to undermine their work.

4. Our BBC News Russian teams, formerly based in Moscow, have been forced to relocate out of the country since Russia effectively criminalised independent, impartial journalism in Russian following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  However, we have been able to retain a small newsgathering team in Moscow reporting in English led by Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg. 

5. Seven BBC News Russian journalists have now been designated as ‘foreign agents’ by the Russian state, requiring their journalism to be labelled as written by a ‘foreign agent’, and imposing burdensome financial reporting requirements on them personally. This label makes it much more difficult for them to do their jobs and failing to comply could result in criminal prosecution. They are unlikely to be able to safely return to Russia for the foreseeable future. 

6. The language service with the largest number of journalists affected is BBC News Persian and as such this evidence focuses on the repression of BBC News Persian journalists by Iran.

7. The Iranian authorities have been systematically targeting BBC News Persian staff and their families in Iran as part of a deliberate attempt to intimidate them into stopping their work as journalists for the BBC and to silence independent reporting on events in Iran. 

8. BBC News Persian operates only from outside of Iran and, although banned by the authorities, the service is available to audiences within Iran via satellite TV and via digital media including the BBC website and social media accounts using circumvention tools, acting as a vital source of independent news for the Persian speaking audience.

9. The harassment and targeting started in 2009 and escalates around BBC reporting on key events in Iran. Following BBC reporting on the protests in 2022-2023, this intimidation of BBC staff escalated to unprecedented levels.

10. Over the last year we have seen a further serious escalation in the harassment and security threats towards BBC News Persian journalists and other journalists reporting on Iran from abroad.  The BBC became aware that a number of BBC News Persian journalists have apparently been convicted in absentia for ‘propaganda against the Islamic Republic’ and sentenced to one year in prison. 

11. The targeting suffered by BBC News Persian has included:

• Conviction in absentia, ongoing criminal prosecution and asset freeze: Since 2017, there has been a mass national security criminal investigation into the activities of all BBC News Persian journalists, together with an asset freeze injunction.  In February 2024, we learned that a number of BBC staff members have been tried and convicted in absentia by a court in Tehran on the charge of ‘propaganda against the Islamic Republic’. [1]

• Harassment of family members inside Iran: Family members have faced arbitrary arrest, detention and travel bans, as well as threats and intimidation from intelligence services towards their family members at the BBC and requests to pressure their relatives to leave the BBC. (see below for recent examples)

• Death and kidnap threats towards BBC News Persian journalists outside of Iran: The death and kidnap threats faced by BBC staff in London have required police and security services intervention and became all the more concerning considered in light of the UK government decision in early 2024 to impose sanctions against Iranian officials over threats to kill on UK soil and to ‘tackle the domestic threat posed by the Iranian regime, which seeks to export repression, harassment and coercion against journalists’.

• Sanctions: After BBC reporting on the 2022 protests in Iran, Iranian government officials blamed the BBC’s reporting for the unrest and protests and in October 2022, the BBC was placed on the list of sanctioned organisations for ‘supporting and instigating terrorism, violence, hate-mongering and human rights abuse’. The government has also threatened to place the BBC on the list of terrorist organisations for its reporting on the protests.

• Disinformation and online attacks: BBC journalists are targeted with online attacks, disinformation campaigns and hacking attempts, particularly women journalists who face disturbing gendered and sexualised online attacks.

12. The affected group of BBC News Persian staff includes Iranian nationals who are also dual nationals: most are dual UK/Iranian nationals, but the group also includes other EU nationals e.g. dual nationals from France, Germany, Belgium, and nationals of Australia, Canada and the US.

Background and context

13. Each week, mainly through the World Service, BBC News reaches an audience of 414 million people worldwide in 42 languages across TV, radio, and digital platforms. The BBC is the world’s most trusted and best-known international news broadcaster, with CNN its nearest competitor[2] as consistently shown by independent research. 

14. The World Service is an essential part of the BBC’s global news offer, committed to accurate, impartial, and independent news. It makes a global contribution to the BBC’s Mission to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality, and distinctive output and services which inform, educate, and entertain.

15. BBC World Service is also a leading international advocate for defending media freedom. We work with other partner organisations to share safety information to protect journalists, and to advocate for journalists from other organisations who are being harassed simply for doing their job. 

16. BBC News Persian, launched in 1940, is one of the oldest of the BBC’s non-English language services. BBC News Persian broadcasts from London and in 2009 launched BBC Persian television producing news, current affairs and entertainment for Persian speakers in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the global diaspora. BBC News Persian has a weekly global audience of over 17 million[3]. The Service has won awards for its impartial coverage of critical events in Iran.  Its staff are based primarily in London but also in the US, Tajikistan and Lebanon.

17. The Iranian government has imposed grave restrictions on media freedom, making it impossible for journalists to freely report from within the country, which has meant that Iranian citizens depend on foreign-based media for reliable, independent reporting. As a result, the authorities in Iran have initiated efforts to block, undermine, discredit, and silence foreign-based reporting on Iran. As the most prominent foreign-based Persian language outlet, the BBC has long been a focus of the Iranian government’s efforts.

History of harassment

18. The harassment of BBC News Persian staff and their families commenced in 2009, following the launch of BBC Persian TV. In 2017, it  escalated, with the commencement of a mass criminal investigation into the activities of journalists and other staff working for BBC News Persian, which alleged their work constituted a crime against Iran’s national security.  In tandem, the Iranian authorities brought an injunction to freeze the assets of 152 named individuals and “Iranian staff of the counter-revolutionary network of BBC Persian” thereby potentially covering all current and future staff who join the service. The injunction prevents them from buying, selling or inheriting property in Iran. 

19. The financial impact has been devastating for those affected and operates as an unlawful financial sanction on BBC journalists for their reporting.  The sanction also directly effects their families and extended family through the freezing of family assets and inheritance. Legal challenges were filed in Iran years ago but initiated no progress in the criminal investigation or in their domestic legal claims to have the asset freeze removed.  In July 2023 we became aware that the investigations stage had closed and the case had been referred to the prosecutor’s office for decision on jurisdiction.  The charges for this have a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment in Iran.  We are unaware of the current status of the cases. This criminal investigation is, as we understand it, separate from the criminal convictions in absentia (see further below).

20. As a result of the historic and ongoing harassment and the criminal investigation, the BBC strongly advises staff with Iranian citizenship, and all staff who work for BBC News Persian, not to travel to Iran under any circumstances.  Travel to and through countries “friendly” with Iran also poses increased personal risk of questioning, detention, and arrest, and is therefore discouraged.

Recent examples of threats & harassment

21.                                                                   Increased intimidation of family members in Iran February 2025

In recent weeks there has been a disturbing increase in the number of serious incidents of family harassment inside Iran.  The intimidation of relatives of BBC News Persian Service staff, living inside Iran, have been a constant for years, but in common with other foreign-based Persian language broadcasters we’ve received an increase in number and threat level over the last few weeks. It is clear that the purpose of these activities is to pressurise BBC News Persian staff to stop working for the BBC, using family members as negotiating assets.

22. For example, in one case, family members of a BBC Persian colleague had their passports confiscated by the Iranian authorities.  The colleague’s father was then called in for questioning and asked to tell our journalist in the UK to leave the BBC and pursue a different career, either in the UK or Iran, or remain at the BBC but ‘cooperate’ with the Iranian authorities. The authorities said they’d continue the questioning at a future date and get the father to call our journalist for them to have direct access to convey the message themselves.

23. Convictions in absentia for BBC News Persian journalists:

In February 2024 the BBC became aware, through the publication of documents from the hacking group Edaalat Ali, that a number of current and former BBC News Persian journalists had reportedly been convicted in absentia in Iran of the crime of ‘propaganda against the Islamic Republic’.  The leaked information included a database of millions of public and undisclosed criminal cases allegedly from Iran’s Judiciary. One of these referenced a closed confidential case which outlined the conviction of a number of journalists working for international Persian-language media, including 10 from BBC News Persian.  The information suggested a court in Tehran tried and convicted BBC News Persian journalists in February 2022 in absentia and we have since had this confirmed.  We understand  the individuals were each sentenced to one year’s imprisonment.  This has obvious, significant implications for these individuals.

24. Credible death and kidnap threats to BBC News Persian journalists in London:

BBC Persian staff have received credible death and kidnap threats, which have – in some instances – required police involvement and protection in the UK.  For example, in July 2023,  a BBC journalist was informed by the Metropolitan Police and Counter-Terrorism Police that he was at risk of being kidnapped. After a few days, two police cars appeared outside his house and remained there for over 10 hours. It was not the first time nor the last. Since February 2022, the police have asked for the addresses of some BBC News Persian staff to enhance their security. 

25. The death threats are even more concerning in light of the numerous, unlawful, extra-territorial actions of Iran towards journalists and dissidents overseas.  In January 2024, the UK Government announced a new sanctions package targeting named Iranian officials responsible for ‘the threat to kill on UK soil and criminal gangs who do the regime’s bidding overseas’. [4] The UK Government sanctioned 7 individuals and one organisation with a view to expose and disrupt Iran’s activities. The aim of the sanctions, which include UK travel bans and asset freezes, is to ‘tackle the domestic threat posed by the Iranian regime, which seeks to export repression, harassment and coercion against journalists...’. The announcement follows the exposure of a plot to assassinate two presenters from a Persian-language news channel on UK soil which was the latest in a number (at least 15) of attempts to kill or intimidate individuals in the UK by the Iranian authorities. More recently, an Iran International journalist was stabbed on the street in London – a shocking attack.[5]

26. British counter-terrorism police have previously written to members of the Iranian community living in the UK, and journalists reporting on Iranian issues, to increase their awareness of any possible risks to their physical and cyber safety, and risks associated with international travel. In this context, and since the protests in 2022, the BBC’s Security team have reported that the risk to the personal safety of BBC Persian staff in London has increased.  The BBC remains in close collaboration with both the UK Government and the Metropolitan Police on this issue and continue to provide additional support to staff when necessary.

27. Gendered attacks on women journalists:

There is a relentless campaign of online attacks on BBC News Persian staff, particularly  gendered attacks on women journalists. This campaign of online attacks is either generated by Iran or is coming from within Iran and Iran is failing to take adequate measures to address it.  The spread of fake and defamatory news stories are designed to undermine the reputation of BBC News Persian staff and their families. These attacks escalated and intensified during BBC reporting on the protests.

28. In one  example from September 2023, an Instagram page connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, called “Gharargah Shahid Doran” (Martyr Doran Base),[6] showed images of BBC Persian female journalists among others, each of whom are targeted by individual comments attacking their reputations with the aim of discrediting their work as journalists. This was later published in Iran’s state broadcaster (IRIB) newspaper,[7] with the headline: “While the number of female employees and presenters who have been [sexually] assaulted in hostile TV channels is increasing day by day, these same networks and people have claimed compassion for chaste and noble Iranian women, and of course, they have been a messenger of freedom for them!”

29. Survey of BBC News Persian journalists

In February 2024 a survey was conducted of BBC Persian staff (93 participants), with the following results:

• 61% of respondents said family or friends have been harassed/threatened or questioned by the authorities in Iran. 
• 50% of respondents said they’d received online threats/harassment for working for the BBC
• 67% of respondents said they’d lost family members in Iran without being able to see them before the end
• 55% of respondents said their fear for their own personal safety and that of their family in London has increased.

30. As the survey shows, intimidation of BBC News Persian’s family members in Iran is pervasive. This is a constant threat for family members and a constant source of guilt for the BBC colleague. 

31. The harassment and intimidation also extends to BBC News Persian sources. While BBC News Persian staff operate from abroad, their work depends upon access to sources within Iran, who as a result risk being threatened and harassed. A BBC source, Saleh Nikbakht, was convicted by a court in Tehran and sentenced to one year imprisonment on charges including "anti-system propaganda" and "interviews" with London based broadcasters, including the BBC as well as Iran International. [8]

UK Government response

32. The BBC remains in close collaboration with the UK Government on the issue. The  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office have raised the issue in a number of fora, including in the House of Commons (by MPs from a number of parties), the House of Lords, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (by the Ambassador) and in bilateral discussions with Iran.

33. We also work with, and on occasions need assistance, from the Home Office, including support in visa applications for family members from Iran to visit their relative working for the BBC in the UK.  Our staff cannot travel home for fear of their safety, so family members travelling to the UK is essential.  Staff have also been advised against visiting a number of regional countries for family reunions due to security concerns.

34. However, advice is patchy and there are often long delays in securing responses and the necessary documentation.  There has been some improvement in securing visas for family members but we would like to see improved engagement with the Home Office on this issue, and on the issue of providing Iranian journalists working in the UK with assistance in obtaining appropriate travel documentation to enable them to travel outside the UK, given the risk posed to their personal safety were they to attend the Iranian embassy to renew their Iranian passport.  Some staff members only have Iranian nationality and have not yet been granted dual nationality.

35. In relation to Interpol red notices, given that they are not all widely publicised, there is often little or no way of knowing whether a perpetrator of transnational repression has sought to misuse them.  We are very aware of the risk of such misuse, but have received legal advice that our staff must make enquiries themselves of Interpol as to whether a notice has been issued about them, and that a response can take up to five months.  If such a notice has been issued, the staff member can apply for the notice to be deleted, but any such request is likely to take more than a year. 

36. There is also the option to make a preventative request in the event of any future notice, but we are advised that process could take more than a year.  And in any event, Interpol would be obliged to notify Iran of any application to delete, or prevent, a red notice, thus alerting the Iranian authorities and potentially leading to further reprisals against the journalist’s family in Iran. 

37. We ask for a simpler and quicker method for enquiring whether such a notice has been issued, and for preventing and/or deleting any notice for journalists at risk.

38. The BBC is also in regular contact with UK police and security services for advice and particularly during periods of heightened threat.

Recent international engagement

39. The BBC World Service has had significant engagement with the UN Human Rights Council since 2017, including detailed submissions with evidence of the continuing targeted harassment.

40. In April 2024, the BBC World Service made an urgent appeal to the UN Special Procedures in relation to the convictions in absentia against a number of BBC News Persian journalists (IRN 7/2024). Since then, five UN experts issued a strongly worded statement urging that the violence and intimidation towards journalists reporting on Iran from abroad, including BBC News Persian, must stop. The experts raised this concern as part of the wider pattern of intimidation which has been directed at BBC News Persian for many years, saying:

“We deplore the blatant misuse of counter-terrorism law against journalists, which violates freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, the right to travel, privacy, family rights, the right to reputation and due process and judicial safeguards,” the experts said. They said the threats against Iran International were part of a pattern of threats and attacks against Persian language media and dissidents outside Iran, including journalists working for BBC News Persian, Deutsche Welle, Voice of America, IranWire and Radio Farda. “We urge Iran to refrain from violence, threats and intimidation against Iran International and its staff, online and offline, and other journalists and media workers reporting on Iran from abroad, and to investigate and prosecute those responsible for such acts,” the experts said.”[9]

41. In her report to HRC56 on journalists in exile, the UN Special Rapporteur, Irene Khan has raised concern about the transnational targeting of BBC News Persian staff by Iran.[10]

42. The BBC continues to engage with international bodies to highlight the persecution of BBC Persian staff and their families in Iran.   The work includes advocacy with human rights representatives from UN states with influential positions on media freedom and those with bi-lateral engagement with Iran.

Conclusion

43. There has been a serious escalation of harassment and security threats directed at journalists reporting on Iran from abroad and, in particular, the harassment of BBC News Persian journalists.

44. We are grateful for the Government’s support in raising the matter in public and in private with the Iranian authorities, and on the international stage, and call on the Government to continue to do so.

45. We believe that better coordination across Government departments in support of BBC News Persian journalists’ various needs, i.e. FCDO working with Home Office to support visa and/or travel documentation for journalists and their families living in Iran, would be beneficial.

46. We appreciate the Committee’s focus on transnational repression and the opportunity to submit evidence on the persecution by Iran of BBC News Persian journalists and their families and ask parliamentarians to continue to highlight the constant threats these journalists face for doing their jobs.

(Feb 2025)