In a statement on Tuesday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the threats made by the Islamic Republic ambassador in London against Iranian media and journalists abroad and asked the British officials to pay attention to these threatening and dangerous acts against the freedom of media and journalists.

The statement reads: “Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns Iranian intelligence agency harassment and threats against Iranian journalists based abroad, especially in Britain, and against their families still in Iran, and the role played by the Iranian ambassador in London in relaying these threats.”

The statement also mentions Iran’s recent harassments and persecutions of journalists and their families in Iran: The threats are targeting Iranian journalists working for international media such as the BBC, Voice of America, and Radio Farda (Radio Free Europe) and privately-owned Iranian exile media such as the Iran International and Manoto TV channels and the Kayhan London news website. At the same time, their relatives in Iran are being summoned and threatened by members of the Revolutionary Guard intelligence services.”

RSF claims: “Ever since Hamid Baeidinejad, the Iranian foreign ministry’s former director of political affairs and international security, took over as the Islamic Republic’s ambassador in London, he has been threatening these media and journalists on Twitter.”

"Protected by his diplomatic immunity, the ambassador repeats the accusations of the Iranian intelligence services and uses the same rhetoric as they do, accusing journalists of being the “agents and mercenaries of foreign services, paid by the country’s enemies and acting against the national interest,” RSF continues.

The statement concludes: “Threatening citizens, in particular, a country’s journalists and media outlets, are not part of an ambassador’s attributions. The British authorities should monitor these activities, which pose a threat to press freedom and a danger to journalists.”