The BBC is calling on Iran to halt its escalating campaign of cross-border threats and harassment against the British broadcaster’s journalists and their families. 

In a Friday news release, the BBC said Iran has carried out a more than decade-long “campaign of harassment and intimidation, which has included death threats, freezing of assets in Iran and online attacks targeting BBC News Persian staff. Their Iran-based family members have been arbitrarily detained and faced other forms of discrimination, the statement said. 

Iran previously accused the BBC of fomenting unrest following the reelection of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. Iran opened a criminal investigation and froze the assets of more than 150 BBC Persian staff, former employees and contributors in 2017, accusing them of involvement in a “conspiracy against national security.”

The broadcaster said the threats against BBC Persian staff and Persian-speaking journalists outside Iran have intensified in the past year. Its staff in London have reportedly received death threats, prompting police involvement and protection.