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The Telegraph
The Telegraph
National
Ruth Comerford

Iranian news service suspends London broadcasts over ‘imminent’ terrorism threat

Police and armed-response units outside Iranian news channel Iran International on Saturday - London News Pictures
Police and armed-response units outside Iranian news channel Iran International on Saturday - London News Pictures

The Home Office has condemned Iran’s “unacceptable behaviour” after a terror threat forced an Iranian news outlet based in London to halt its broadcasts.

Iran International ceased broadcasting from its headquarters in Chiswick, West London, on Friday and transferred all its 24-hour news bulletins to Washington.

Counter-terror police confirmed that it had recommended the “exceptional” move amid “serious concerns for the safety” of employees.

The London base has since been fortified and placed under armed guard.

A Government spokesperson said: “We will not tolerate any threat to media organisations or journalists.

“We know the Iranian regime has established a pattern of this type of behaviour which is completely unacceptable, yet sadly typical of the regime and its lack of respect for basic rights.”

The Home Office said police were continuing to respond to the threat, and pledged to use “all tools at our disposal” to protect those in the UK under threat from the Iranian state.

Executive editor Aliasghar Ramezanpour pictured in the channel's newsroom - Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph
Executive editor Aliasghar Ramezanpour pictured in the channel's newsroom - Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph

On Saturday Matt Jukes, head of counter-terrorism policing, said: “The advice to relocate has not been given lightly.

“The situation that journalists face around the world and the fact that some journalists face such hostile intentions of foreign states while in the UK is a challenging reality that we are determined to confront.”

The escalation comes days after an Austrian man appeared in court charged with planning a terror offence after he was accused of filming outside their offices.

Magomed-Hussein Dovtaev, 30, allegedly took seven videos depicting the security arrangements of Volant Media, based at Chiswick Business Park.

Volant Media manages Iran International, described at Westminster Magistrates Court as an “independent Farsi language news channel which has been critical of the current regime in Iran”.

Dovtaev denied the terrorism charge and he was remanded in custody ahead of a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey next month.

Last year, the channel announced that an Iranian hit squad had been deployed to kill two British journalists working at the broadcaster.

Counter-terror police and intelligence agencies have long considered Iran a hostile state “actor”.

On Thursday, Mr Jukes said that the Islamic Republic had attempted to kidnap or even kill British nationals or residents at least 15 times.

The authorities of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly threatened Iran International and its employees, threats that have increased significantly following the coverage of the Iranian people’s revolutionary uprising in recent months.

Tensions have been heightened by protests on Iranian streets following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been arrested by the religious morality police after refusing to wear a hijab in public, which sparked widespread clashes in Tehran.

The dangers posed by insurgents loyal to the Iranian regime have been emphasised following the stabbing of Salman Rushdie in New York in the summer, several years after a fatwa, a legal ruling in Islamic law, was announced against him.  

Mahmood Enayat, general manager of Iran International TV, said: “I cannot believe it has come to this. A foreign state has caused such a significant threat to the British public on British soil that we have to move.

“Let’s be clear, this is not just a threat to our TV station but the British public at large.”

Despite the temporary suspension of the London office, broadcasts from the Farsi-language network in Washington will continue 24 hours a day.

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