BBC broadcasts unauthorized footage in documentary on Iran

The latest documentary by fugitive Iranian-born journalist Maziar Bahari, recently aired by the state-run BBC Persian television channel, features unauthorized footage from Iran.

The documentary, “From Cyrus to Ahmadinejad,” which mainly digs into Iran-Israel conflicts over the history, has used a number of interviews conducted at the office of the BBC World Service in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

The film was broadcasted on Friday despite a ban on the British Broadcasting Corporation to air footage and interviews taken in Iran.

During the production of the documentary, Bahari also traveled to Israel and conducted interviews with a number of Iranian-born Jews.

The fugitive journalist had earlier filed a lawsuit against Press TV after the Iranian news network aired a 10-second soundbite, which was part of an interview with Bahari in 2009.

In October 2011, the British media regulator, Ofcom, claimed that Press TV violated its broadcasting codes by airing the interview. The ruling led to the imposition of a 100,000 pound fine on Press TV, the closing of the Iranian news network’s office in London and its removal from the Sky platform.

In the 10-second clip, Bahari made reference to post-election events in Iran around three years ago and said, “On Monday, June 15 [2009], I sent a report about the attack against the base, a military base of Basij, to Channel 4 News as well as to Newsweek magazine.”

The measures against Press TV come despite the fact that in numerous later interviews with Western media outlets, Bahari himself readily confirmed what he had said in the 10-second soundbite, i.e. he was the person who sent the footage.

Ofcom was under mounting pressure from the British royal family to silence Press TV’s critical voice because the news channel covered British police crackdowns on anti-austerity protesters in London and other British cities.

Meanwhile, cables released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks show that Press TV’s programs on the royal wedding, which many in the country described as extravagant, angered the royal family.

The British royal family exercises an overarching power over all branches in the political system of the country, including the government and the parliament, as well as on Ofcom.