Iranian journalists in London have experienced death threats, intimidation and online abuse. A broadcaster for the London-based BBC Persian, the Persian-language arm of the BBC World Service, had her car broken into and her conversations with her family were bugged.
Last month, Priya Zelati, a newsreader for Iran International, a Persian-language opposition TV channel that operates in the UK, was stabbed in the leg outside her London apartment.
Three suspects in that attack traveled to Heathrow Airport and left the country within hours, according to The Metropolitan Police, responsible for policing London.
Specialized counter-terrorism officers are still investigating the motive behind Mr Zelati’s non-fatal stabbing, with the Met refusing to say where the attacker flew to. But experts say these targeted incidents are part of a frightening pattern of physical attacks, threats and surveillance that has become a reality for many Iranian journalists working abroad.
And London, which has many Persian-language broadcasters, has become a “hotspot” for transnational repression. According to a report released Wednesday Courtesy of Reporters Without Borders.The report comes amid wider concerns about Iran tries to kill or kidnap British critics This was outlined in 2022 by the country’s security service, MI5.
“The Iranian government and its proxies are a major source of threats and harassment, but not the only one,” said report author Fiona O’Brien, UK bureau director for Reporters Without Borders.
Complicating the situation, she said, the harassment comes not only from the Iranian state but also from Iranian opposition groups, political activists and the Iranian diaspora. “For journalists who experience this kind of abuse, it feels like hostility comes from all directions.”
She said Iran has long described overseas journalists as “enemies of the state” and “there is actually very clear evidence and no attempt to hide that Iran is behind many of the repressive actions.”
The report, which interviewed more than two dozen Iranian journalists and their employers in London, found an exponential rise in online attacks against journalists, including death threats and threats of sexual violence. Women are disproportionately affected by online abuse, with some receiving graphic threats of rape. Iranian family members of journalists living abroad have also been threatened and intimidated.
Rana Rahimpour, 41, a well-known presenter on BBC Persian, quit journalism after 15 years after a series of threats and intense pressure on her and her family.
In an interview with The Times, Rahim Poole said the threats against her had been going on for a long time. In 2013, her parents were subject to a year-long travel ban, had their passports confiscated, and were regularly interrogated in Iran.
As part of a complaint submitted by BBC Persian to the United Nations in March 2022Ms. Rahimpour said she had been targeted by Iran for more than a decade because the authorities “did not want fair, credible or unbiased news to reach the shores of my home country.” The complaint said she and 152 current and former BBC Colleagues were hit by Iranian sanctions in 2017 in an attempt to prevent their work.
threaten Anti-government protests accelerate in Iran in 2022 over Mahsa Amini’s deathMs. Rahimpour has provided extensive coverage of the program as chief anchor for BBC Persian.
Her car was broken into in London and she believed it had a listening device inside. She said wiretapped phone conversations she had with her family in Iran were edited, distorted and broadcast on Iranian state media in November 2022, remaking it to make her appear to support the government.
Opposition critics, including Iran International, used the edited recordings to accuse BBC Persian of collaborating with the Iranian government. Anti-government protesters also began hurling insults.
“That’s what really broke me,” Ms. Rahim Poole said. “I thought, ‘You know what, enough is enough. I’ve paid enough to do the job because I felt like I had to. But now, I don’t have to do it anymore.”
Ms Rahimpur described feeling very alone amid the abuse and threats.
“The sense of isolation that comes with this kind of pressure is really shocking,” said Ms. O’Brien of Reporters Without Borders, noting that some journalists interviewed for her reporting had expressed similar feelings.
When the situation inside Iran becomes more fraught, she said, this type of transnational repression tends to intensify and “the threat to journalism intensifies.”
The report published Wednesday is just the latest evidence pointing to attacks on Iranian journalists abroad.this BBC World Service launches emergency appeal this week The company has sent a request to the U.N. agency demanding action as its journalists continue to suffer “sweeping attacks and intimidation,” its lawyers said in a statement.
Earlier this year, the United Nations conducted a fact-finding mission into Iran Discover “State authorities harass, threaten and intimidate journalists and other media employees working abroad, including staff from BBC Persian, Iran International Television, Voice of America, Iran News Agency and Deutsche Welle.”
In some cases, Iranian authorities arrested, detained or charged family members of these journalists and broadcasters “in an apparent effort to put pressure on them and prevent them from reporting on the country,” the report said.
In 2022, two British journalists working for Iran International were told by the Met that their lives were under threat, prompting them to British Foreign Office issues official warning Iran’s most senior diplomat in London. UK and US sanction multiple Iranian officials Earlier this year, they were members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which they said was linked to a plot against journalists.
Iran International briefly stopped broadcasting from London due to threats against its staff. Iran International, which is banned in Iran, is owned by Volant Media UK, a London-based company owned by a Saudi-British national. It has been criticized for its links to Saudi Arabia, The Guardian reported in 2018 that the company received significant funding from a company linked to the Saudi Crown Prince. Iran International denies it is supported by the Saudi government.
The company employs about 200 journalists who produce material for its website, radio stations and broadcasts watched via satellite by millions of people across Iran. On March 29, one of their presenters, Mr Zelati, was stabbed near his home in Wimbledon. He has recovered from his injuries.
The Iranian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. But on March 30, the embassy said in a statement that Iran was not involved in the attack on Mr. Zelati.
“We deny any connection to this incident,” said Mehdi Hosseini Mateen, a diplomat at the embassy in London, calling it “bizarre.”
Iran International spokesman Adam Bailey said the channel provided private security for its journalists but that threats against them had increased in recent years. “It was the most shocking thing that happened,” he said of Mr. Zelati’s attack. “But I wouldn’t say it was unexpected because we have been under threat.”
