Broadcasting: Iran

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which the outputs of (a) BBC Persian TV and (b) other international broadcasters are jammed by the Iranian Government; what assessment he has made of the compatibility of such actions with international agreements; what steps he has taken to bring such jamming to an end; and if he will make a statement. (320170)

We are aware that BBC Persian TV and other international broadcasters have been severely disrupted by jamming signals originating from inside Iran. We support the European Parliament's resolution of 10 February which condemned the Iranian authorities' efforts to disrupt media services in breach of their International Telecommunications Union (ITU) obligations. We are continuing to liaise closely with international partners, the ITU and the BBC World Service to seek a resolution to the issue.