Persian Service

The book under review is a rare volume on the subject: it unfolds the history of the tense relations between Iran and Britain due to regional and global politics and the impact these tense relations had on the BBC. It is an analysis of the fluctuating relations between the two countries by focussing on some important events in Iran, such as the abdication of Reza Shah, the nationalisation of oil by Dr. Mossadeq, the 1979 Revolution and, and last but not least, by scrutinising the nation-wide protests spurred by the 2009 presidential election. This book is about the BBC’s jihad of steering clear of the pressures of these two nations. The BBC had to remain sincere to the cause of a free and fair journalism when faced with the nuances of the Foreign Office and the Iranian accusation of its being a ‘state orchestrated propaganda’ (p. 169). The Persian Service reiterates that the Iranians, especially the establishment, do not trust the UK and the US. Therefore, the prudential plea made by the BBC, that it remains ‘independent of its paymaster, the Foreign office’ (p. 10), falls on deaf ears in Iran. The “soft war” syndrome of the Western media, including the BBC, the Iranians believe, is meant to obliterate the Islamic civilization by destroying its values.