Latest news with #BBCPersian
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iranian accused by Tehran of being Israeli spy confessed because regime threatened niece
Hossein Shanbehzadeh was tortured and had death threats issued against his niece during interrogations, an informed source said. Hossein Shanbehzadeh, an Iranian national arrested in Ardabil last year over allegations he was working as a spy for Israel, confessed to the charges only because the Islamic regime threatened to harm his 6-year-old niece, informed sources told BBC Persian earlier this week. After being taken by Tehran's security forces while enjoying lunch, Shanbehzadeh was tortured and had death threats issued against his niece during the interrogation, the source said. After being arrested with his hands up and calmly surrendering to the police, the unidenified source told BBC Persian that several officers 'severely beat him and cursed him. After much beating, they put him in a car and asked for his mobile phone password, but he resisted at first. The person sitting in front punched him in the head and face. When one of them said, 'Bring the electric shocker,' he stopped resisting and wrote down his mobile phone password on a piece of paper with his hands that were shaking from the beating." The security forces then allegedly posted several pre-prepared posts on his social media. Once transferred to prison, he was said to have spent 24 days and nights in solitary confinement and was repeatedly stripped in front of officers. Interrogaters reportedly claimed that some of the social media accounts he had interacted with were Mossad agents and he was consequently charges with being a "spy,' "collaborating with hostile states" and "propaganda activities in favor of the Zionist regime," as well as "insulting the sanctities, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and the Leader of the Revolution." He has since been sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment. The source claimed he was forced to waive his right to appeal, while his lawyer told Sharq News Agency that there was no evidence he was working with Jerusalem. The source added that the interrogator had threatened Shanbehzadeh with the death penalty under allegations he had insulted an Islamic prophet. The source said Shanbehzadeh had no knowledge of the chats that authorities referenced. He was allegedly then later told by another interrogator that if he refused to confess during an interview on television, "the group of Imam Hussein's Madmen would kill your six-year-old niece." 'Hossein said that although he did not take his promise seriously, his promise brought to mind the image of Karun Hajizadeh's bloody body, which is why he said that even if the interview led to his execution, he would accept it,' the source said. 'Two foul-mouthed reporters were present during the television interview, and the interrogator dictated everything and even asked Hossein to say that if he made any mistake next time, they would execute him. He said that he was ready to kill Jesus Christ or even behead a leader, but the madmen of Imam Hussein should stop killing my six-year-old child." Hajizadeh was a 9-year-old boy murdered in Kerman in September 1998, along with his father. Now known as 'Prisoner of the Dot,' over a period with which he had replied to Ayatolla Khameini's X post, Shanbehzadeh's case has seen wide attention. His single-character X post received double the number of likes that Khameini's did. While the Prisoner of the Dot was said to have been initially charged with "propaganda against the regime' by the Evin Prosecutor's Office, Iranian media quickly changed the story and accused him of working on behalf of the Mossad. Shanbehzadeh's family denies the latter charge, noting that his use of his real identity on social media would make him an ineffective spy. "The claim that Hossein has absconded is also unjustifiable. He had long ago spoken on X Network (formerly Twitter) about his intention to travel to Ardabil, and even up until an hour before his arrest, he was talking about the city of Ardabil on the same network and posting photos of himself," his family said. The anonymous source added, "The accusation of espionage was fabricated by the judicial authorities of Ardabil and was given to the Tasnim news agency in an exclusive report." The report follows the execution of Shanbehzadeh's friend Mohsen Langarneshin, who was also accused of spying for Israel.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
BBC staff in London say their families are being ‘terrorised and punished' by Iranian regime
BBC staff in London say their families are being 'targeted and punished' by the Iranian regime as it intensifies a campaign of intimidation against journalists and media outlets. There have been more than 20 'threat-to-life' incidents against people in the UK by Iran in recent years, according to the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism commander. The officer, speaking to the parliamentary committee on transnational repression last month, said three men had been charged under the National Security Act over Tehran's threats towards Iran International, a UK-based television station. In March last year, an Iranian journalist was stabbed outside his London home and forced to move abroad, saying he no longer felt safe in the UK. The BBC says there has been a 'sharp and deeply troubling escalation' this year in the targeting of its journalists' families in Iran, orchestrated by Tehran. Transnational repression is the state-led targeting of refugees, dissidents and ordinary citizens living in exile. It involves the use of electronic surveillance, physical assault, intimidation and threats against family members to silence criticism. The Guardian's Rights and freedom series is publishing a series of articles to highlight the dangers faced by citizens in countries including the UK. Staff with BBC Persian, the Farsi-language broadcasting subsidiary of the World Service, say they have been left paranoid and in tears about the fate of their parents and other family members in Iran, who have been dragged into long interrogations by Iranian officials and threatened with losing their jobs, being sent to prison and having family assets seized. Behrang Tajdin, a BBC Persian journalist, said: 'They are trying to make our families' lives miserable. It's not just harassment any more, it is punishment – and only for being related to someone.' BBC staff have previously spoken out about the rape and death threats they have received, with one journalist saying she was warned: 'It doesn't matter that you don't live in Iran – we can also do whatever we want in London.' But the 'relentless' targeting of family members, including parents, cousins, siblings and even in-laws – telling them they will be punished for being related to a BBC journalist – is a new escalation, say staff. Tajdin said: 'It's psychological warfare. The scale and number of families targeted has gone up exponentially. They [the Iranian regime] have decided that everything they have done before [to force us to stop working for BBC Persian] has not worked so they are upping the pressure now. 'When we go to work, we have to try to forget that we have a family. We would not be able to continue working if they were in our minds because of the consequences for them,' he added. Tajdin said it was the reach of the BBC Persian service, which has an audience of almost 22 million people a week, that made BBC journalists and their families a prime target. Tim Davie, the BBC director general, said the persecution of family members was 'clearly designed to exploit family ties as a means of coercion – pressuring our journalists to abandon their work or return to Iran under false pretences'. He said the BBC was preparing to lodge a new complaint with the UN Human Rights Council.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran using criminal gangs for hit jobs abroad, court papers show
There has been a sharp rise in plots by the Iranian regime to kidnap or assassinate dissidents, journalists and political foes living abroad, according to reports by Western intelligence agencies. These attempts have escalated dramatically since 2022, with even US President Donald Trump among the alleged targets. In the UK, police are questioning a number of Iranians arrested earlier this month on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. The BBC understands the alleged target was the Israeli embassy in London. And court documents from Turkey and the US - seen by BBC Eye Investigations and BBC Persian - contain evidence that Iran has been hiring criminal gangs to carry out killings on foreign soil, allegations the Iranian regime has previously denied. Iranian officials did not respond to a fresh request for a comment. One name repeatedly surfaced in these documents: Naji Sharifi Zindashti, an Iranian criminal boss, known for international drug smuggling. His name appeared in a Turkish indictment in connection with the 2017 killing in Istanbul of Saeed Karimian, the head of a Persian TV network that broadcast Western films and programmes to Iran. Iranian authorities considered Karimian a threat to Islamic values, and three months before his assassination an Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced him in absentia to six years in prison. US and Turkish officials believed his death was related to a mafia feud. But when in 2019, Massoud Molavi, a defector from Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), was gunned down in Istanbul, it shed light on Zindashti's alleged role in Karimian's assassination. Molavi had been exposing corruption at the highest levels of Iran's leadership. The Turkish police discovered Zindashti's gardener had been present at the scene of Molavi's assassination, and that his driver had been at Karimian's murder. The police suspected the gardener and the driver had been sent by Zindashti. Zindashti was arrested in connection with Karimian's death but was controversially released after just six months, causing a legal scandal in Turkey. A Higher Court judge ordered his rearrest but by then he had left the country. He then fled to Iran, raising suspicions that he might have been working for Iranian intelligence all along. Cengiz Erdinc, a Turkish investigative journalist, claims that when those out of favour with the Iranian regime are killed, Zindashti's men are at the scene. "It is not the first time, but there has always been a connection between organised crime and the intelligence agencies," he says. Over three decades ago, he was convicted of drug smuggling in Iran and sentenced to death. But rumours suggested his escape from prison, which led him to Turkey, may have been orchestrated by Iranian intelligence. "If someone sentenced to death in Iran escapes after killing a guard, they're unlikely to make it out alive - unless there's more to the story," says someone who knew Zindashti closely. The BBC is withholding their identity for their own safety. "The only plausible way for him to return and live freely would be if he had been working for Iran's intelligence services, making his escape appear to be part of a planned cover story for intelligence work with Iran's security agencies and IRGC," they told BBC World 2020, Zindashti's name appeared again in a Turkish indictment in connection with the kidnapping of Habib Chaab, an Iranian dissident who was lured to Istanbul, abducted, and later paraded on Iranian state TV. Chaab was sentenced to death and executed. Zindashti's nephew was arrested in Turkey in connection with Chaab's disappearance. Zindashti has denied having any role. Then, in 2021, Zindashti was implicated in a plot in the United States. According to Minnesota court documents, communications between Zindashti and a member of the Hells Angels, a Canadian biker gang, were logged in the indictment. Zindashti allegedly offered $370,000 to have two Iranian defectors assassinated in Maryland. The FBI intervened and arrested two men before the attack could be carried out. Our investigation into court documents also uncovered that the IRGC and its overseas operations arm, the Quds Force, have been working with criminal organisations like the Thieves-in-Law, a notorious international criminal gang from the former Soviet Union, to carry out kidnappings and assassinations. US and Israeli intelligence sources say Unit 840 of the IRGC's Quds Force's main responsibility is to plan and establish terror infrastructure abroad. In March, a New York jury convicted two men associated with the Thieves-in-Law for plotting to assassinate Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American activist. Iranian agents allegedly offered $500,000 for her killing. Just two years earlier, a man with a loaded gun had been arrested near her home in Brooklyn. Following the 2020 assassination by the US of top IRGC commander General Qasem Soleimani, Iran vowed revenge. Since then, the US says Iran has been plotting to kill former members of the Trump administration involved in Soleimani's death, including former national security adviser John Bolton, and Mike Pompeo, former head of the CIA and secretary of state. During last year's US presidential election, prosecutors accused Iran of plotting to assassinate Donald Trump, which Iran strongly denied. In response to these growing threats, the US and UK have imposed sanctions on individuals linked to Iran's intelligence operations, including Zindashti, Iranian diplomats, and members of the IRGC. Zindashti denies ever working for the Iranian intelligence service. In 2024, Ken McCallum, the director of MI5 reported 20 credible threats against individuals in the UK linked to Iran. In one case in West London, a Chechen man was arrested near Iran International, a Persian-language TV station in London. He was convicted of gathering information for Iranian agents. Last year, Pouria Zerati, a London-based presenter for Iran International, was attacked with a knife. Soon after, two men were arrested in Romania at the request of UK counter-terrorism police. Sources in the UK security services told the BBC these men were part of the Thieves-in-Law, allegedly hired by Iranian agents. Sima Sabet, a presenter for Iran International, was one of the targets, but an attempt to blow up her car failed. "When they realised they couldn't attach a bomb to my car, the agents told the man to finish the job quietly," says Sima, who has seen the police file, says. "He asked how quietly, and they replied, 'As quiet as a kitchen knife.'" After the assassination of four Iranian Kurdish leaders by masked gunmen in a restaurant in Berlin in 1992, German prosecutors blamed the entire Iranian leadership for the killings. The attack was carried out by Iranian agents and members of the Iran-backed Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement. An international arrest warrant was issued for Iran's intelligence minister, and a court declared that the assassination had been ordered with the knowledge of Iran's Supreme Leader and president. Since then, it seems the Iranian regime has been hiring criminal organisations to carry out kidnappings and killings in an attempt to avoid linking the attacks back to the regime. But Matt Jukes, the UK's Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, says it is relatively easy for police to infiltrate criminal groups because they are not ideologically aligned with the Iranian regime. It is what he calls a "creeping penetration" by Iran, which the police are trying to disrupt.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
At least 500 injured in large explosion at Iran port
At least 500 people have been injured in a massive explosion at a port in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, state media is reporting. The blast took place at the Shahid Rajee port district on Saturday morning, shattering windows of nearby office buildings. No fatalities have yet been reported by authorities but footage showed people lying wounded on the street. There are also reports of people being trapped under semi-collapsed buildings. A major fire is still raging at the site and pictures show huge, billowing black clouds over the wharfs. Workers were rushing to evacuate and transfer the injured to hospitals, authorities said. Officials told state TV the explosion had been centred in the port and that several unsealed containers had exploded. "The source of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area," a crisis management official said, according to BBC Persian. Iranian state media reported the explosion was so large it damaged buildings and cars in the vicinity. Residents also reported hearing the explosion from several kilometres away. The number of injured being reported by state media has risen rapidly in the past hour.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
At least 500 injured in large explosion at Iran port
At least 500 people have been injured in a massive explosion at a port in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, state media is reporting. The blast took place at the Shahid Rajee port district on Saturday morning, shattering windows of nearby office buildings. No fatalities have yet been reported by authorities but footage showed people lying wounded on the street. There are also reports of people being trapped under semi-collapsed buildings. A major fire is still raging at the site and pictures show huge, billowing black clouds over the wharfs. Workers were rushing to evacuate and transfer the injured to hospitals, authorities said. Officials told state TV the explosion had been centred in the port and that several unsealed containers had exploded. "The source of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area," a crisis management official said, according to BBC Persian. Iranian state media reported the explosion was so large it damaged buildings and cars in the vicinity. Residents also reported hearing the explosion from several kilometres away. The number of injured being reported by state media has risen rapidly in the past hour.
