Israel Matzav

Iran's biggest fear?

A comment in Britain's Guardian claims that the biggest fear of the Iranian regime is... the BBC's Persian language channel.

[T]he UK has one organ that scares Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's regime greatly, and that is BBC's Persian language service.

BBC's Persian language radio service dates back to 1940, while its newly inaugurated TV service is now almost one year old. In this short space of time, the TV service has attracted large audiences in Iran, and the reason is simple: it is the most impartial Persian language broadcast available

This has not been an easy endeavour as it has meant being subject to heavy criticism from both sides. For example, many anti-regime elements, especially monarchists, have at times accused it of being pro-Khamenei, because of its refusal to toe their line of attacking the regime at every opportunity. The fact that the service also looks at the positive aspects of the regime, and portrays the views of both sides has given it much credibility, as well as audience. So when it does broadcast about developments in Iran, especially those that cast the regime in a negative light, many more people are willing to accept its findings, thanks to its credibility and reputation for airing both sides of the story.

And this is what angers Iran's supreme leader and his hardline allies. They would have loved this news service to have taken a jingoistic one-sided approach against the Iranian government. That way, it would have been much easier to portray it as a tool applied by the "old colonialist" British government, in order to support regime change in Iran.

A one-sided news service would have been a turn-off for many ordinary Iranians too – after 30 years of hearing propaganda-style news in their country, many are tired of such one-sided coverage, regardless of whether the source is inside Iran or abroad.

The current Iranian leadership is far more scared of a velvet-style revolution than an attack by the US or Israel. The logic is simple. It's much easier to fire at hostile planes that have invaded your sovereignty than to kill thousands of your own citizens who are peacefully protesting on the streets. The international and domestic backlash prompted by the latter is infinitely higher and more damaging.

To Iran's leadership, what could increase the possibility of such a development is young Iranians having access to credible news about what is happening inside their country. Such knowledge could then empower not only the opposition, but also those who have been sitting on the fence until now, due to their lack of faith in the credibility of sources of analysis and news about what is happening inside their own country. BBC's Persian language service provides just this kind of knowledge, and this is why Khamenei's government has decided to view the British government as one of its principal enemies.

I've never seen the BBC's Persian service but based on what I have seen and read of al-Beeb's other services, let's say I find it hard to believe that the Persian service is so objective. Of course, that doesn't mean that it doesn't cause the regime problems. Any reporting from Iran that's even half true is likely to cause the regime problems.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:09 PM