RSS Feed
February 7th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 7:10 PM on 6th February 2012
BBC Director General Mark Thompson is speaking out to try and stop a campaign of intimidation against Iranian staff who worked outside Iran
Iranian authorities are increasingly arresting and threatening the families of BBC journalists to force them to quit its Persian news service, its head said yesterday.
Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, said he was speaking out to try and embarrass Tehran to end what he said was a campaign of intimidation against Iranian staff who worked outside Iran.
‘This is a growing pattern. It’s systematic and a campaign,’ Thompson told BBC TV.
‘What we have decided to do is to be more public than we have been before in calling for the Iranian authorities to desist from this, to ask for other governments to try and put as much pressure as they can and to hope that the embarrassment of this will get those who are responsible for these actions to think again.’
He said on his blog: ‘In recent months, we have witnessed increased levels of intimidation alongside disturbing new tactics.
This includes an attempt to put pressure on those who work for BBC Persian outside Iran, by targeting family members who still live inside the country.’
There was no immediate comment from Iranian authorities.
BBC Persian staff provide Farsi-language TV, radio and online services. Few Western journalists are permitted to work in Iran where the hardline Islamic government views much of the foreign media with suspicion.
The BBC’s TV service has often been jammed and is only available to owners of illegal satellite receivers.
Last September, Iran arrested several
people for supplying information to the BBC, accusing them of seeking to
portray a negative image of the Islamic Republic.
Iran, led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has arrested several people for supplying information to the BBC
Thompson said the harassment was getting worse, citing the case of a sister of a London-based BBC journalist who he said was arrested in Tehran on unspecified charges, threatened and intimidated.
‘She was quite clear this was absolutely associated with the fact that her sister was working for the Persian service in London,’ he said.
Thompson said such pressure was designed to force people to resign from the BBC or become informants for the Iranian intelligence service.
Despite attempts by Tehran to prevent access to the BBC, he said Iranians were very ingenious at finding ways of reaching the service. ‘We know from the extraordinary feedback we get (that) it’s watched and relied upon by many, many millions of people inside Iran,’ he said.
Share this article:
Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have not been moderated.
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
Scrap the licence fee it’s a tax on the poor, used to promote pro war and pro government views, lies about man made global warming even with the freezing temperatures, claims CO2 is toxic to the environment but wait low CO2 levels lead to crop failures! (they don’t tell you that if CO2 levels fall much as they want then humans would become extinct) oh they support carbon and green taxes on fuel, electricity and gas (increasing poverty again). The BBC MUST become pay per view and people should OPT IN to watch programmes/series. Pay per view IS the only way the BBC will become accountable. No I don’t had SKY or cable and I won’t subscribe either.
Report abuse
It would be best spent on teaching DM journalists correct English: It is “TRY TO”, for heaven’s sake.
Report abuse
Better yet, just scrap the loathsome tv tax altogether!
Report abuse
Maybe the money saved on stopping free BBC services to Iran could be spent on providing decent programmes for the people in Britain who pay for them
Report abuse
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
