The BBC’s permanent correspondent in Tehran, the late Jon Leyne, was expelled in the aftermath of the contested 2009 presidential electi...
The BBC’s permanent correspondent in Tehran, the late Jon Leyne, was expelled in the aftermath of the contested 2009 presidential election after reporting on unrest in Iran. The BBC bureau was shut down. At the time hardline elements here claimed that the BBC was involved in stirring opposition to the regime and no BBC reporter has been allowed back into Iran until now. Even now the government has made it clear that they will be keeping tabs on the visiting crew who will be monitored by the police.
"This permit was issued by a joint committee of the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and security organizations,” said Hossein Noushabadi, Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry spokesman according to Iranian media, “and they can only report on nuclear issues.”“They have given commitments that they will work within the rules and regulations we have set for them, and they must report in advance where they will be reporting from,” Noushabadi said.A spokeswoman for the BBC said that the corporation had not yet received any official correspondence from the Iranian government regarding broadcasting in Iran. However not all western correspondents here agree, “There has been no institutional change, the old limitations are all still in place,” says Ramin Mostaghim, the Los Angeles Times Tehran correspondent, “Visiting journalists still have to work with government appointed fixers and we all have to tip toe to avoid crossing red lines set by the state, it’s a potentially dangerous mistake to think that the situation has eased.”
