BBC Persian journalists say Iran monitoring them and targeting their families

Exiled Iranian journalists working for the BBC said their movements are being closely monitored by the state and that family members in Iran have been interrogated and persecuted for their reporting. Relatives were threatened with arrest and the seizure of assets unless the journalists stopped covering unrest, and some parents were warned that security forces knew where and when their children worked, down to the position of their desk and the programme they were appearing on.

Staff at BBC Persian, which reaches 30 million people a week, said the pressure continued after unrest that led to tens of thousands of deaths and has prompted calls for an independent inquiry. Journalists said they remain targets for Iranian security services even while on UK soil; some have taken extra security measures after receiving credible death and kidnapping threats, and others have left their jobs because of the financial pressure placed on their relatives.

Iran, United Kingdom