Harassment of journalists of the Farsi section of the BBC; Complain to the United Nations

Lillian Landor, the BBC's senior director of global affairs, has announced that the news agency has filed an urgent complaint with the United Nations against the Iranian government over "continued harassment" of its Persian service journalists.

Lillian Landor, the BBC's senior director of global affairs, announced at the International Press Freedom Conference held in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, that the news agency has filed an urgent complaint against the Iranian government to the United Nations due to the "continued harassment" of journalists in the Persian service.

“Death threats, online harassment, questioning families and pressuring them to stop their relatives working for the BBC, gender-based attacks, asset freezes, all of this must stop,” Landor said.

The BBC says that in the past year, including since Ebrahim Raisi came to power, pressure on BBC Persian journalists and their families has increased.

Also, according to the BBC, “Given Iran’s cross-border operations against journalists and political activists, there are concerns about the security threat to BBC Persian journalists in third countries.”

In an interview with DW Persian, senior BBC Persian correspondent Kasra Naji said about the reason for this complaint: “This is our third complaint to the UN in the past five years. In Iran, unfortunately, there seems to be no listening ear within the security and judicial institutions. Especially in the past thirteen months, the families of a number of our colleagues have been summoned by the security institutions and through them we were given the message that we must stop working at the BBC, otherwise we may be killed on the streets of London. Or, like Ruhollah Zam, we may be kidnapped and executed in Iran.”

The senior BBC Persian correspondent continues: "Harassment has not only continued, but in some cases has taken the form of serious threats. The UN and the international community must take action so that journalists can continue their activities."

Another BBC Persian reporter, while confirming that his family in Iran has come under pressure from security agencies, says that in the past year he has also been targeted by those who consider themselves to be in opposition to the Islamic Republic.

He, who wants to remain anonymous, said: "In addition to the pressure of the security institutions of the Islamic Republic on the families of BBC employees, in recent years, campaigns have also been started against BBC Persian journalists by people who call themselves opponents of the Iranian government." "Looking at these attacks that mostly happen on social networks, we can see that these attacks are organized and probably have the same origin."

Regarding the targeting of BBC Persian journalists on social media, Kasra Naji says: “It is natural to disagree with us or any other media outlet. People have the right to freely express their opinions and criticize and criticize something. But in recent years, and especially in the past year, we have witnessed intelligence and counter-intelligence operations that seek to destroy the image and professional work of our colleagues. Our female colleagues in particular are the target of attacks. Our colleagues have repeatedly received death threats.”