Harassment of BBC Persian Service Journalists; Complaint Filed with UN

Liliane Landor, Director of BBC World Service, announced that the news organization has filed an urgent complaint with the United Nations against the Iranian government due to “persistent harassment” of BBC Persian Service journalists.

Liliane Landor, Director of BBC World Service, speaking at the International Conference on Media Freedom held in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, announced that the news organization has filed an urgent complaint with the United Nations against the Iranian government due to “persistent harassment” of BBC Persian Service journalists.

Landor said: “Death threats, online harassment, interrogation of families and pressure on them to stop their relatives from working for the BBC, gender-based attacks, asset freezes – all of this must stop.”

The BBC states that over the past year, including since Ibrahim Raisi came to office, pressure on BBC Persian Service journalists and their families has increased.

According to the BBC, “given Iran’s cross-border operations against journalists and political activists, there are concerns about security threats to BBC Persian Service journalists in third countries.”

Kassraie Naji, a senior BBC Persian Service journalist, in an interview with Deutsche Welle Persian, explaining the reason for filing this complaint, said: “This is our third complaint to the United Nations in the past five years. Unfortunately, it appears there is no listening ear within Iran’s security and judicial institutions. Especially in the past thirteen months, families of several of our colleagues have been summoned by security agencies and were told through them that we should stop working for the BBC, otherwise we might be killed in the streets of London. Or like Rouhollah Zam, we might be kidnapped and executed in Iran.”

The senior BBC Persian Service journalist continued: “The harassment and persecution have not only continued, but in some cases have taken the form of serious threats. The United Nations and the international community must take action so that journalists can continue their work.”

Another BBC Persian Service journalist, while confirming that his family in Iran has been subjected to pressure from security agencies, stated that over the past year he has also been targeted by attacks by people who consider themselves opposition to the Islamic Republic.

He, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “In addition to pressure from the Islamic Republic’s security agencies on BBC staff families, in recent years campaigns have been launched against BBC Persian Service journalists by individuals who call themselves opponents of Iran’s government. Looking at these attacks, which mostly occur on social networks, one can see that these attacks are organized and their source is probably the same.”

Kassraie Naji, discussing the targeting of BBC Persian Service journalists on social networks, said: “Opposition to us or any other media is natural. People have the right to express themselves freely, to object to something and to criticize. But in recent years, and especially in the past year, we have witnessed intelligence and counter-intelligence operations aimed at destroying the reputation and professional work of our colleagues. Especially our female colleagues are targets of attacks. Our colleagues have repeatedly been threatened with death.”