Sawt Falasteen - London-based Persian TV aims to air 'truth' about Iran protests

The private broadcaster, housed in a heavily-secured building in west London, was labelled a "terrorist" organisation by Tehran in 2022 along with the BBC's Persian-language channel.

But Iranians can still access it via satellite and private VPN codes, and have continued to tune in even after authorities imposed an unprecedented nationwide communications blackout on January 8.

Thousands of Iranians managed to send the channel videos of the crackdown, broadcast after verification. Many also sent audio or written testimonies describing atrocities they had witnessed.

Farnoosh Faraji, a senior journalist, scrolled through images of piles of bodies, a man killed by a bullet in his back, and armed forces firing on fleeing protesters.

"Honestly, it's horrible. At the beginning I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe the images were made with AI," said the journalist, who fled Iran in 2012.

- 'Shocked by brutality' -

Part of the digital team, she spends her days analysing footage of the bloodshed.

"I promised myself to be strong. I must help my people, this is part of my job," she said.

Presenter Reza Mohaddes said: "We were shocked by the brutality of the regime. How can you do this sort of things to your own people?"

On Sunday, the channel reported that at least 36,500 people had been killed by security forces during the January 8-9 crackdown, citing newly obtained classified documents and accounts from medical sources and families.

The anti-government demos were sparked by economic grievances in late December, but soon turned into mass street rallies against the Islamic republic.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said Monday it had confirmed that 5,848 people had been killed, adding it was still investigating another 17,091 possible fatalities.

Launched in 2017, Iran International "was created to be the voice of truth, the voice of the people of Iran," Mohaddes said.

The channel estimates its weekly audience is "probably now over 40 million," said spokesman Adam Baillie.

It is one of several Persian‑language outlets critical of Iran's clerical leadership operating from abroad, including the London‑based station Manoto.

According to Baillie, Iran International is the most-watched television channel inside Iran and is also followed by the large Iranian diaspora.

The newsroom employs about 200 journalists, with correspondents in Washington, Paris, Berlin and Tel Aviv.

Iran International is regularly accused of receiving backing from Saudi Arabia -- claims the station denies.

"Our investor is a British-Saudi national. But it is not ... controlled by Saudi Arabia. It's nothing to do with the Saudi Arabian state," said Baillie.

- Anonymous threats -

He insisted the station is independent and supports neither Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's former shah who has backed the sweeping protests, nor Israel, contrary to allegations from Tehran.

Working at Iran International "you need a lot of courage ... You have to be quite tough," said Baillie.

"The threats against the channel have grown exponentially since we began. We've never been free of them ... but it has reached another level".

Faraji recalled how her best friend, who is still in Iran, was arrested and forced by police to send her a message urging her to resign.

Mohaddes recently received an anonymous email threatening to kill him and also to blow up the building.

Like previous threats, the message was reported to London police.

In 2023, on the advice of British counter-terrorism police, Iran International was forced to shut down and temporarily broadcast from Washington for seven months.

In March 2024, one of the channel's reporters was stabbed near his London home, spurring an investigation by Scotland Yard.

Britain's foreign ministry has also summoned Iran's most senior diplomat to protest "serious threats" against journalists living in the UK.

"I'm not afraid at all," insisted Mohaddes. "We're all fighting to get rid of this brutal regime."

O.Mousa--SF-PST