The BBC agreed to not share its reporting in Iran with its Persian-language channel, bowing to the demands of a government that has been hostile to the press.
An email obtained by the HuffPost showed the BBC made an agreement with the Iranian government to limit the sharing of its material in exchange for the regime allowing a BBC correspondent into the country.
The email was sent Saturday by a BBC Persian digital editor to all BBC Persian staff.
“It is absolutely imperative that none of their material is run on BBC Persian TV, Radio or Online now or in the future. That includes any official BBC Persian social feed retweeting or forwarding the coverage. Please do not use the material and stories produced in Iran on any platform or in any format,” the email said.
BBC foreign correspondent Martin Patience, who was allowed to report from Iran, tweeted Sunday after he left that there were “some restrictions on our movements but not on what we are saying.”
The BBC published an article Monday with a disclaimer that said its “recording access was controlled” but the note also does not disclose the agreement.
It’s at least the second time such an agreement about the distribution of reporting has been made with the government since February.
BBC Persian staffers said they felt the broadcaster’s agreement aided in their persecution by the regime. Iran has targeted BBC Persian staff in the last decade, freezing their assets, investigating them for “conspiracy against national security,” making death threats and harassing their families.
“All international media are subject to reporting restrictions in Iran. We accepted some limitations on this occasion in order to provide our audiences with rare insights from inside the country and this is signposted in our coverage. As ever, the BBC maintains full editorial control over what we broadcast. These reports — our first from inside Iran in 5 years — do not change our unwavering commitment to our BBC Persian staff and their families, who have suffered completely unacceptable harassment from the Iranian authorities since 2009,” a BBC spokesperson said in defense of the broadcaster’s decision.
