It was unclear whether the purpose of the arrests was to attack the BBC, as most people initially supposed, or whether the chief goal was to take the documentary filmmakers out of commission with the accusations against the BBC just some valued-added from the arrests.
A spokesman for the Pas-daran, Ramazan Sharif, told the daily Resalat. “The BBC tries to identify elements inside the country [who make] particular cultural productions in order to use them against the Islamic establishment.”
The BBC denied that any of the six arrested were its employees. The network said it had purchased the rights to air documentary films by these-and other-Iranian filmmakers, but had not employed them or commissioned their work. The films in question have previously been “screened in festivals and other venues internationally,” the BBC said.
“We consider this [the arrests] to be part of ongoing efforts by the Iranian government to put pressure on the BBC for the impartial and balanced coverage of its Persian-language TV of events in Iran and the wider region,” said Lilliane Landor, head of foreign language broadcasts at BBC Global News.
According to a state television channel, the arrests were made last Saturday. That date coincided with the airing of a documentary by BBC Persian about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi. The BBC says the film was met with increased jamming by Iran. The documentary was not produced by any of the arrested filmmakers, but prepared in-house, BBC said.
When asked about the arrests, Culture Minister Moham-mad Hossaini distanced himself and said it was the intelligence ministry that conducted the arrests. “In this respect, it was decided that the intelligence minister would provide us with the details, because we do not have precise information on this issue either. That ministry will explain what the nature of the cooperation [with the BBC] was,” he said.
But he did accuse the BBC of fomenting anti-regime sentiments in Iran. “BBC Persian played a role in the period after the [2009] elections and the subsequent riots. It directed and provoked [the unrest]. It wants to see problems created in the country….”
Sadeq Saba, head of BBC Persian, told Radio Farda, “BBC Persian has no office in Iran-and noone in Iran, whether informally or formally, works for BBC Persian there.” The BBC English language news operation does have an office in Tehran.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) urged authorities to end the “ongoing intimidation and arrest of filmmakers and journalists…. These arrests prove yet again that President Ahmadi-nejad and his intelligence apparatus have no tolerance for independent filmmakers and journalists,” Aaron Rhodes, a spokesman for the group, said.
“If the president expects the international community to respect his right to speak in New York, then he should be forced to explain why filmmakers and media are subject to repression in Iran,” he said.