Outrage grows over BBC's 'shameful' coverage of Iran protests
There is growing outrage over the BBC's coverage of protests in Iran after a blundering report was aired on its flagship News at Ten programme.Viewers hit out at embarrassing editing errors and the tone of the report, which aired a lengthy statement from the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The BBC was already under scrutiny over allegations it was not giving the nationwide protests enough coverage, after thousands of Iranians took to the streets for the 13th day in a row on Friday.The movement marks the biggest threat to the Islamic Republic in years and has seen a typically brutal crackdown from the country's Revolutionary Guards.Protests begin in the capital Tehran in reaction to dreadful economic conditions, but have now spread to more than 30 towns and cities in every province of the country. The death toll since the uprising began a fortnight ago rose to 65 yesterday, with up to 2,500 detained, according to human rights activists.But although the issue made it to the top of the news agenda for the BBC's ten o'clock programme, hosted by Jane Hill on Friday, the report was marred somewhat by a series of errors that left viewers demanding an apology.The report featured comments from Diplomatic Correspondent Caroline Hawley which were clearly not meant to make the final cut. People gather on the streets during a protest in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran this week as activists gathered in towns and cities in all 31 of Iran's provinces Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Kermanshah, Iran on January 8 The movement marks the biggest threat to the Islamic Republic in years and has seen a typically brutal crackdown from the country's Revolutionary GuardsIssues began after Hawley said: 'What started in late December as an economic protest has quickly spiralled into a major political and security challenge.'She then immediately is heard to say: 'Sorry, I'll take that again', all while images of protests, burning vehicles and damaged ATMs continue to roll.Hawley then repeats her line about economic protests turning political, before she is heard musing to herself: 'And then one more little bit...'Later on, loud crowd noise from protesters appears to cut in while US President Donald Trump is speaking. The report was also chastised for its tone in the context of the deadly clashes, featuring 30 seconds of Iran's leader Khamenei in which he referred to the protesters as 'vandals' who only wanted to 'please' Trump.Khamenei was described during the footage as 'characteristically uncompromising'.Actor John Cleese was one of those to take to social media to air their discontent over the broadcast, describing the BBC's coverage as 'shameful'.'The BBC's way of reporting on the protests in Iran is to quote a statement by Khamenei that the protestors are vandals trying to please Trump.'What on earth are [they] thinking of?' he wrote. Others criticised the poor edit, with one viewer stating the report had been 'thrown together', adding: 'Mistakes left in voiceover edit and overlapping audio of protests under Trump. The Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei described protesters as 'vandals' - 30 seconds of his speech was aired during the BBC's news report Back in Iran, a nationwide internet blackout has now been going on for more than 36 hours, making monitoring of events increasingly challenging (Pictured: Protesters in Kermanshah, Iran on January 8)'No apology after... Disrespectful of audience and subject.'A BBC spokesperson said: 'The BBC has been covering the protests in Iran daily across all of our platforms, including our main news bulletins, in English and via BBC News Persian. Last night's package for the News at Ten saw a small glitch which meant a line of reporting was repeated.'The corporation has been accused of not giving enough attention and reporting time to events in Iran, with the Mail's Special Correspondent David Patrikarakos saying the BBC has 'averted its eyes'.And it is the latest faux-pas from the BBC after threats made by Donald Trump to sue the corporation sent its leaders - and news editors - into a tailspin.The scandal, which saw the US President vow to sue for up to $5 billion over the editing of a Panorama clip of a speech he gave on the day of the Capital Riots, saw Director-General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness resign.Back in Tehran, a nationwide internet blackout has now been going on for more than 36 hours, making monitoring of events increasingly challenging.On Friday, US President Donald Trump said it looked like Iran's leaders were 'in big trouble' and repeated an earlier threat of military strikes if peaceful protesters are killed.'It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,' Trump said.Protests have taken place across Iran for 13 days in a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, with growing calls for the end of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, which ousted the pro-Western shah.In Tehran's northern Sa'adat Abad district, people banged pots and chanted slogans deriding supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as cars honked in support.Other social media images showed similar protests elsewhere in Tehran, while videos published by Persian language television channels based outside Iran showed large numbers taking part in new protests in the eastern city of Mashhad, Tabriz in the north and the holy city of Qom.The US-based son of Iran's ousted shah urged Iranians on Saturday to stage more targeted protests with the aim of taking and then holding city centres. Hundreds of protesters gather in Tehran on Friday night as protests continue to sweep the country A fire is filmed by protesters in Tehran, the capital of Iran, on Friday'Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centres,' Reza Pahlavi said in a video message on social media.He urged more protests on Saturday and Sunday and said he was 'preparing to return to my homeland' in a day he believed was 'very near'. It came after he appealed for the help of US President Donald Trump on Friday.While the majority of protests have been peaceful, videos in some cities show burning buildings, overturned cars and authorities opening fire. These protests followed giant demonstrations on Thursday that were the biggest in Iran since the 2022-2023 protest movement sparked by the custody death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the dress rules for women.The rallies came as internet monitor NetBlocks said authorities imposed a 'nationwide internet shutdown' for the last 24 hours that was violating the rights of Iranians and 'masking regime violence'.Amnesty International said the 'blanket internet shutdown' aims to 'hide the true extent of the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law they are carrying out to crush' the protests.Iranian rights group HRANA reported 65 deaths including 50 protesters and 15 security personnel as of January 9, while the Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said more than 2,500 people have been arrested in the last two weeks.On Saturday morning, a local governor of the Tehran province told Tasnim news agency, which is associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, that 100 people had been arrested.Those detained were accused of having 'disrupted public order' and 'used firearms and cold weapons against the people and security and law enforcement forces' in the county of Baharestan.In a joint statement Friday, the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada and the European Union issued a strong condemnation and called on Iran to 'immediately end the use of excessive and lethal force by its security forces'.In his first comments on the escalating protests since January 3, Khamenei on Friday called the demonstrators 'vandals' and 'saboteurs'.Khamenei, in a speech broadcast on state TV, said US President Donald Trump's hands 'are stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians', in apparent reference to Israel's June war against the Islamic republic, which the US supported and joined with strikes of its own.He predicted the 'arrogant' US leader would be 'overthrown' like the imperial dynasty that ruled Iran up to the 1979 revolution.'Everyone knows the Islamic republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people, it will not back down in the face of saboteurs.'Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on a visit to Lebanon on Friday accused Washington and Israel of 'directly intervening' to try to 'transform the peaceful protests into divisive and violent ones', which a US State Department spokesperson called 'delusional'.
