Report: BBC freelance reporters arrested in Iran

Feb 6, 2012, 16:16 GMT

Tehran - An unspecified number of freelance reporters working for the Persian service of the BBC in Iran have been arrested, Mehr news agency reported Monday.

An unnamed official source told Mehr that those arrested had been gathering information for the BBC's Farsi broadcasts and attracting Iranian journalists to leave the country and work for the network in Britain.

The arrested people were accused 'of having committed several security crimes' and would soon face trail, the unnamed official added.

The Iranian government accuses the BBC network of broadcasting 'anti-revolutionary programmes' to fuel unrest in the country.

The BBC's Farsi-language service is banned in Iran, and has no official facilities or staff in the country. The programmes are available however via illegal satellite receivers.

Several Iranian documentary filmmakers were arrested last year for cooperation with the BBC and for allowing their documentaries to be aired without informing the relevant authorities in advance. Most of them were subsequently released on bail.

The foreign press department in the culture ministry called on the foreign media in Tehran not to cooperate in any way with the BBC Persian broadcast and also to inform their headquarters not to use their news, photo and video material.

The BBC has reportedly accused Iran of having intimidated and even arrested relatives of its Persian service staff.