AP, 5 Feb 2013: "Iran's official news agency is reporting authorities have arrested another group of local journalists accused of links with the BBC. The report by IRNA quotes a statement by the Intelligence Ministry. It did not say how many were detained. Last week Iran said it arrested 11 journalists on the same charge. Iran has repeatedly denounced the Persian services of the Voice of America BBC over the past several years, describing them as arms of U.S. and British intelligence agencies. It has warned of severe repercussions for Iranian journalists and activists caught having contacts with the outlets."

Radio Zamaneh, 6 Feb 2013: "Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has issued a second statement regarding the arrest of a number of journalists in the past week, once again accusing them of having links to foreign media. In a statement issued on February 5, the ministry accused the detainees of having connections with the BBC and claimed their case is similar to those of documentary makers and voice actors involved in dubbing films who’ve faced arrest in recent years. ... The arrest of documentary makers in September of 2011 was also attributed to collaboration with Persian BBC. BBC denied having any employees in Iran and disputed the charges put forth by Iranian authorities."

Fars News Agency, 9 Feb 2013: "[M]ember of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Nozar Shafiyee [said] that the US and British intelligence agencies try to identify potential assets via BBC Persian, the Voice of America (VOA) and media organizations, and use them against Iran. In a statement released last month, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry dismissed the western media ballyhoo about the recent arrests in Iran in the last few days, and said it is conducting thorough investigations into the case, which has already led to an established link between the detainees and the BBC. The statement said the intelligence ministry 'has succeeded in uncovering one of the biggest networks (of informants and agents) linked with the media camp of the arrogant powers'. The ministry statement said 'the network was run by the British government's psychological operations organization (known as the BBC) in cooperation with several western governments and used a multilayer, extensive and well-equipped structure and very special methods of communications for sending its reports', adding that the BBC and its western co-conspirators used the experience they had gained in the post-election unrests in Iran in June 2009 to better run the network."

RFE/RL, 30 Jan 2013: "Like their counterparts at the BBC and other international media, at least three Radio Farda journalists have been the subject of fake Facebook profiles and blogs that post false and even scandalous information with the aim of discrediting them. Radio Farda’s Facebook page, which has more than 300,000 fans, has also been hacked. ... Radio Farda journalists have also suffered synchronized attacks by Trojan horse viruses, which come cloaked as legitimate e-mail correspondence or attachments that, when opened, can mine the user's computer for contacts, passwords, and other sensitive data. In some cases hackers have used the data to pose as Radio Farda contacts and attempt to communicate with radio employees. 'It’s ridiculous,' said Radio Farda Editor-in-Chief Niusha Boghrati. 'We believe this is the work of Iranian security agents. Although we can’t prove it, it is in line with their goal of undermining Radio Farda. And of course it won’t work.'"

RFE/RL, 28 Jan 2013: "Human Rights group Amnesty International has called on Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release 14 journalists who were detained as part of raids on Iranian newspapers. The journalists are reportedly accused of cooperating with 'antirevolutionary' Persian-language media organizations based outside of Iran, such as RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, the Voice of America, and the BBC."

Allvoices, 28 Jan 2013, Stephen Manual: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is notorious for crackdowns against media and journalists. Reporters are not allowed to work for foreign media or even Persian-language newspapers and TV channels based in the United Kingdom and other European countries."

New York Times, 28 Jan 2013, Rick Gladstone: "The Mehr news agency said the arrested journalists had been accused of 'collaborating with some of the Persian-language foreign media' -- apparently an allusion to the Persian services of both the BBC and the Voice of America. The Fars news agency, without citing any sources, said the suspects had tried to contact the foreign media and had sought training on photography and filming with cellphone cameras. 'Moreover, they wanted to learn how to assemble the pieces and send them to the BBC,' Fars said."

BBC News, 28 Jan 2013: "Iran-based family members of BBC journalists have been called in for questioning by the intelligence services, and false websites and Facebook accounts have been created to smear presenters and other personnel with various allegations, including sexual misconduct. The head of BBC Persian, Sadeq Saba, said it was not the first time the Iranian authorities had resorted to such tactics, but that the number of incidents and level of harassment had increased in the last few weeks. Iran accused the BBC of inciting unrest after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. BBC Persian broadcast online videos and interviewed protesters, who described deaths, injuries and arbitrary arrests carried out by security forces."

Salon, 28 Jan 2013, Ali Akbar Dareini: "In recent years, Iran has denounced Voice of America and the BBC’s Persian service, describing them as arms of U.S. and British intelligence agencies, and has warned of severe repercussions for Iranian journalists and activists caught having contacts with these outlets."

AP, 31 Jan 2013, Jason Rezaian: "Iran's Intelligence Ministry issued a statement [that] said, 'The collected data from the detained individuals' links to the BBC are strong and undisputable in court.' The ministry went on to say that it had been tracking a network of individuals who worked for the BBC, warning that there would be more arrests in the coming days in its fight against what it called a 'psychological war' being waged against Iran by its foreign enemies."

See previous post about same subject.