The BBC said Iran escalated persecution of Persia's employees and relatives.
The BBC has once again accused Iran of escalating its intimidation campaign against Persian journalists and increasingly targeting relatives of employees in the country.
The BBC said on Monday that its BBC Persian journalist witnessed a “disturbing rise in persecution of family members”.
It said people endured random interrogation, travel bans, passport forfeiture and asset seizure threats.
The BBC said neither in the UK nor elsewhere—it was unable to return to Iran, and was directly aimed at forcing them to give up their jobs with violence and threats.
“We call on Iranian authorities to stop this intimidation campaign immediately,” BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a statement Monday.
Tehran has not responded to the latest BBC allegations. The Iranian regime has been accused of illegal actions against foreign journalists.
It denied the allegations and accused the BBC of spreading false information to encourage its overturn.
BBC News Persians attract nearly 22 million people a week, of which about 13 million are in Iran, and the service is banned.
The BBC has previously stated that the Iranian regime’s targets for Persian journalists covering the country over the past decade – prompting broadcasters to file emergency complaints with the UN Human Rights Council in 2018 and 2022.
But there has been a “huge and increasingly shocking escalation” recently, the BBC said on Monday.
“In addition to the ongoing personal security threats from Iranian state actors, BBC's Persian journalists are now witnessing a disturbing rise in persecution by family members within Iran,” said BBC Director Tim Davie.
“This persecution is a direct attack on press freedom and human rights. It must be over now.”
The broadcaster said it is preparing new complaints to the United Nations.
The UN Secretary-General and his special rapporteur have previously raised concerns about Iran's treatment of BBC employees and warned that the threat of harassment, surveillance and death violated international human rights law.
