TNR Watch: Iranian Journalists in the Crosshairs

An uptick in transnational repression perpetrated by the Iranian government against Persian-language journalists underscores the vulnerability of media outlets operating from exile and the need for international solidarity to support them.

Under pressure: In early June, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced that Iranian authorities were intensifying their campaign of transnational repression against journalists working for the BBC’s Persian-language service from the United Kingdom (UK). According to BBC Director General Tim Davie, the outlet’s reporters have not only faced severe threats to their own security, but also experienced a “disturbing rise in the persecution of their family members inside Iran.” The regime in Tehran has also employed other cross-border tactics—including asset-seizure warnings, passport revocations, and travel bans—in its effort to silence these exiled journalists. BBC Persian reporter Behrang Tajdin described the upsurge in harassment as a form of “psychological warfare.”

Persistent problem: BBC Persian journalists are not the only Iranian media workers to encounter intimidation abroad. A few weeks before the BBC’s statement, British law enforcement authorities charged three Iranian nationals with offenses under the National Security Act for allegedly surveilling UK-based reporters for Iran International, whose relatives in Iran have also been targeted. A year earlier, two assailants had stabbed Iran International television host Pouria Zeraati outside of his London home. The outlet temporarily moved to the United States in 2023 after UK security agents informed staff of significant threats to their lives. Meanwhile, the US-based journalist Masih Alinejad, a presenter for Voice of America’s Persian-language service, has been the target of several assassination plots orchestrated by the Iranian government.

In a 2023 report, Freedom House found that the governments of at least 26 countries had targeted exiled journalists with physical attacks between 2014 and 2023. Transnational repression not only erodes reporters’ sense of security, but also raises the costs of doing their work and frays their connections with sources in the country of origin.

International attention: As pressure on free and independent media grows around the world, more journalists are being forced to work from exile, where they face the menace of transnational repression. In April 2024, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Irene Khan, released a report—with contributions from Freedom House—that documented the safety concerns of exiled journalists and identified the Iranian government as a leading source of threats. Similarly, in May 2024, a group of special rapporteurs denounced the Iranian government’s campaign of violence against Iran International staff. It is imperative that democratic governments and international bodies provide support and protection to exiled journalists so they can continue their vital work of delivering uncensored information to audiences in their home countries and abroad.