Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi made the remarks during a visit to Defa Press, a media outlet linked to Iran’s defense establishment, explicitly naming Iran International, BBC Persian, Manoto and Radio Farda and accusing their employees of working on behalf of Tehran’s enemies.
“Media outlets such as BBC, Iran International and Radio Farda are directly connected to [the Israeli intelligence agency] Mossad, the [US’s Central Intelligence Agency] CIA and hostile intelligence organizations, and receive their operational direction and support from them,” Shekarchi said.
“Those who work for these outlets are considered soldiers of Zionism and the criminal [United States of] America, and they could even be included in the military target bank, because from our perspective, these are not media organisations.”
The remarks represent an unusually direct threat against journalists working for Persian-language media outside Iran and come amid the continuing conflict between Tehran and Washington.
Iranian authorities have for years portrayed Persian-language broadcasters based overseas as part of a wider foreign campaign against the Islamic Republic, often framing their reporting as part of a wider psychological warfare or a national security threat.
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| The Times of Israel adds: |
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
has designated Iran International, based in London, as a terrorist organization since 2022 and has warned that cooperation with the channel is punishable under Iranian law.
In 2023, the broadcaster temporarily moved to studios in Washington, DC, after what it described as an escalation of "state-backed threats from Iran." The station later resumed operations at a new location in London.
On Friday, a British teenager pleaded guilty over an arson attack at offices linked to Iran International in northwest London earlier this year.
Nathan Dunn, 19, pleaded guilty to a charge of "arson being reckless as to whether life is endangered" at London’s Old Bailey over the incident in April in which an ignited container was thrown towards premises belonging to Volant Media, the parent company of the London-based broadcaster.
The device landed in a car park, and the fire extinguished itself, causing no damage or injuries.
Dunn had originally been charged alongside a 21-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be identified because of his age. The broadcaster said at the time that a suspicious vehicle had been denied entry to its London site shortly before the incendiary device was thrown.