Paris, June 5, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a new wave of harassment by Iranian authorities targeting the Iranian families of BBC journalists as part of a broader campaign of repression beyond the Islamic Republic’s borders.
BBC Persian journalists in London told The Guardian and CPJ that their families back in Iran have faced threats in recent months, including interrogations, travel bans, asset seizure warnings, and passport confiscations. BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a statement that the Iranian government’s campaign represented a “significant and increasingly alarming escalation” against the news outlet.
“The Iranian government’s escalating harassment of BBC Persian journalists’ families is a deliberate attempt to silence the press,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Interrogations, passport seizures, and other threats are tools of transnational repression, and a direct assault on press freedom and human dignity.”
Rozita Lotfi, the news editor of BBC Persian, told CPJ that the intimidation began with the 2009 launch of BBC Persian’s TV channel, calling it “a testament to the impact and reach of our independent and impartial journalism.”
“No journalist should have to pay the personal price we are paying, and no family member should ever be punished because of our work,” Behrang Tajdin, a BBC Persian correspondent, told CPJ.
The developments come weeks after British police charged three Iranian nationals in a counterterrorism investigation involving alleged plots against Iran-linked targets in the U.K., including journalists.
CPJ emailed the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York requesting comment but did not receive a response.