BBC staff in London say they fear walking outside alone after being harassed by the Iranian authorities, with British counter-terrorism police warning of an increased security threat.
The Guardian has been told that journalists at the BBC’s Persian language news outlet are being targeted with offensive messages and threats of sexual assault, with reports of family members based in Iran being arbitrarily detained.
In one message, an Iranian-British journalist working for the BBC says she was told: “On Westminster Bridge is a very deep river. It doesn’t matter that you don’t live in Iran – we can also do whatever we want in London.”
She says: “I left my country to seek freedom but now I’m afraid even to jog in London’s woods alone. I’m afraid for my little one’s safety because I have gotten numerous threats regarding them, warning me that they can find our home address and [my child’s] school.”
In October 2022, the Iranian foreign affairs ministry named BBC Persian in a list of organizations and people sanctioned for “deliberate actions in support of terrorism, incitement of violence, and human rights abuses”.
The scale of intimidation faced by BBC staff has given an insight into how the Iranian regime’s use of violence and blackmail extends to the UK.
Iran is increasingly targeting people outside its borders in a tactic known as transnational repression that aims to stifle debate or criticism.
BBC Persian journalists have faced harassment and threats from the Iranian regime for more than a decade, but 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,” says Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, the lead counsel for BBC News Persian.
Some journalists no longer appear on camera, and others work under a pseudonym. They don’t want to put themselves or family members in more danger. Some have left the BBC, but many refuse to back down.
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