When a relative of Iranian journalist Roozbeh Bolhari was summoned last month to an intelligence office in Tehran, they were given a chilling ultimatum.
“Tell [Roozbeh] to get out of hostile media,” the officer said, according to Bolhari in an interview with OCCRP. “Before we issue a verdict against him. Before we send an arrest warrant to Interpol.”
Bolhari, a U.S.-based journalist formerly with the Voice of America’s Persian service, was aware that he could face some form of retaliation for his work. He remained defiant even after hearing that his own family was being directly pressured — and that authorities had floated the idea of luring him back to Iran under the guise of clemency.
The message was clear: Stop reporting, or your loved ones will suffer.
Bolhari is just one of many Iranian journalists in exile who say they are facing a renewed wave of threats and harassment — not only against themselves but also their families back home. Human rights advocates describe it as a transnational campaign of intimidation aimed at silencing critical voices abroad.
Earlier this week, the BBC publicly accused the Iranian government of escalating its long-standing harassment of journalists working for its Persian-language service. In a statement, the broadcaster said the families of its staff in Iran have faced “arbitrary interrogations, travel bans, passport confiscations, [and] threats of asset seizures.”
“This harassment has never stopped, although its intensity has varied over time,” said Rozita Lotfi, head of BBC Persian, in an interview with OCCRP. In recent months, she noted, the pressure has increased significantly — both in scale and in the methods used.
According to Lotfi, family members returning from trips abroad have been detained, interrogated, and used as messengers. Some have been asked to relay threats or demands that their journalist relatives abandon their posts and return to Iran.
She said the latest surge in intimidation coincided with BBC Persian’s coverage of the 2022 protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. Following BBC Persian’s reporting, the Iranian government formally sanctioned the outlet, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
“The general message being conveyed is for journalists to leave the BBC and return to Iran,” Lotfi said.
The Iranian government has not responded publicly to the latest allegations. A spokesperson for the U.K. government said it treats “threats from foreign nations to journalists in the U.K. very seriously” and has “raised the issue” with Iranian officials.
An Interpol spokesperson told OCCRP that, while the organization “cannot comment on individual cases,” it has “robust processes for ensuring our systems are used appropriately.”
“Interpol knows that journalism is not a crime,” the spokesperson added.
But the BBC is not alone. Human rights observers say the intimidation campaign stretches across continents and has intensified in recent years.
Mai Sato, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Iran, said the threats have a “chilling effect” on journalists in exile.
“Those being targeted may have to change what they do within their organization or, in the worst case, leave,” she said. “And there’s also self-censorship.”
Roya Boroumand, executive director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Washington, D.C., said the impact of these threats is multifaceted.
“The Iranian government has managed to hinder the flow of information even beyond its borders by drawing invisible red lines, intimidating exiled journalists, and pressuring their families still inside Iran,” she said.
“This has not only disrupted reporting, but has also disheartened and demobilized many in the profession.”
+ Source: Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project | OCCRP
+ In Farsi
