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UN Raises ‘Grave Concern’ with Iran Over Harassment of BBC News Persian Staff

The United Nations have raised concerns with Iran over the ongoing harassment of BBC News Persian staff, in a formal communication requesting Iran’s response and explanation. The UN communication comes after the BBC filed an urgent appeal to the UN in February 2022 against Iran’s ongoing harassment of BBC News Persian journalists. This includes online violence and gendered attacks faced by women journalists as well as increased financial pressure from an ongoing asset freeze, which operates as a blunt financial sanction against BBC News Persian journalists and their extended families.

The UN communication was sent to Iran on 28 May 2022 and has now been published along with Iran’s response.

The communication was sent by four UN specialist experts, who work on arbitrary detention, freedom of speech, violence against women and Iran. It set out the pattern of harassment that BBC journalists have suffered over the past decade, including “the systematic attacks, including harassment, asset freezing, serious threats, and defamation campaigns implemented by the authorities against BBC News Persian journalists”. The UN experts also raised concern with the surveillance of journalists and the harassment of their journalistic sources in Iran, the interrogation of family members of BBC journalists, and the pressure placed on BBC journalists ‘to leave their jobs’ - all of which may have a ‘chilling effect’ on journalism.

Since 2017, the BBC World Service has filed a number of UN complaints over the treatment of BBC News Persian staff and their families, represented by Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC and Jennifer Robinson at Doughty Street Chambers and supported by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).


Read the full press release here (BBC) and here (NUJ).