Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Why is Iran designating UK-based TV channels as ‘terrorists’?

Why is Iran designating UK-based TV channels as ‘terrorists’?

Tehran blames the channels and their hosts and backers for what it considers ‘inciting terrorist acts’ on Iranian soil.

A senior judiciary official says Iran is in the process of officially designating two London-based Persian-language television channels as “terrorist” for their coverage of the country’s ongoing unrest.

Kazem Gharibabadi, the judiciary’s deputy for international affairs, says cases are being documented against BBC Persian and Iran International with the goal of blacklisting them in their entirety for “guiding and inciting riots, destroying public and private property and equipment, and terrorist acts”.

“These two channels and their agents must be added to the list of terrorist groups and individuals,” he said in a statement.

The BBC late on Sunday released a statement calling the charges “completely fabricated”.

“Threats of action against BBC Persian staff for the work they do as journalists is completely unacceptable, and the BBC will continue to support them. Such false comments give countenance to the importance of our reliable reporting, which millions in Iran depend on,” the channel said.

The two channels have for years been denounced by Iranian authorities, but this is the first time Tehran is planning to take legal action against them.

The country’s foreign ministry on Wednesday imposed sanctions on several British institutions and individuals, which included the two channels and their parent companies.

The sanctions include a ban on issuing visas for individuals, seizure of their assets on Iranian soil, and blocking any bank accounts they may have in the country.

The Iranian actions came shortly after the European Union and the United Kingdom announced separate sanctions on a number of Iranian authorities and institutions, both for their role in what European officials called “brutal repression of the protests” and their alleged role in supplying Russia with drones used against Ukraine in the war.

Protests that spread across Iran erupted over a month ago after 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s morality police following her arrest for alleged non-compliance with the country’s dress code.




Iranian authorities have blamed the United States, Israel and others for “inciting riots” across the country and have also pounded positions in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region to punish what they have called “terrorist” secessionist groups.

In his denouncing of the London-based television channels, Gharibabadi, the judiciary official, also promised that “the role of the countries that host and support these channels, i.e. Britain and Saudi Arabia, will also not go unnoticed”.

This came days after Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), issued a direct warning to Saudi Arabia, which Tehran holds responsible for bankrolling Iran International, among others.

“I warn you to be wary of your behaviour and control these media,” he said in a televised speech. “You have interfered in our internal affairs through these media, but you must know that you are vulnerable.”


Different narratives


The increasing focus on the role of media in the ongoing protests comes as Iranian state-affiliated media and foreign-based outlets have offered different narratives on the country’s unrest. This has been true for demonstrations both inside and outside Iran.

On Saturday, large crowds gathered in several European and US cities in solidarity with Iranian women. In the German capital Berlin, which saw the largest crowds, police said about 80,000 people had gathered by late afternoon, which would make it the largest gathering ever of the Iranian diaspora.

Foreign-based outlets widely covered the event, reporting that Iranians came from different cities and countries, chanting slogans that have been widely used inside the country during the protests, including “Woman, Life, Freedom”.

But in an article on Sunday, the state-run IRNA news website said the Berlin rally signaled a “scandalous defeat for the enemies of Islamic Iran” because, it alleged, some of the demonstrators were not Iranian and were paid to be there, while others were “secessionists” or linked with the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), which Tehran has blacklisted as a “terrorist” organisation.

Inside the country, videos continue to circulate on social media of sporadic demonstrations, as internet restrictions remain in place that make it exceedingly difficult to access social media platforms.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×