Journalists at BBC Persian says they are scared to go out alone as UK counter-terrorism police raise security levels and staff warned: ‘we can do whatever we want in London’

In one message, an Iranian-British journalist working for the BBC says she was told: “On Westminster Bridge is a very deep river. It doesn’t matter that you don’t live in Iran – we can also do whatever we want in London.”

In October 2022, the Iranian foreign affairs ministry named BBC Persian in a list of organisations and people sanctioned for “deliberate actions in support of terrorism, incitement of violence, and human rights abuses”.

The scale of intimidation faced by BBC staff in London has given an insight into how the Iranian regime’s use of violence and blackmail extends to the UK.