Ofcom reverses decision to revoke Iran licence

Ofcom has reversed its decision to revoke the broadcasting licence of Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster's English-language outlet, as tensions rise between Britain and the Islamic republic.

The regulator told Press TV last month that it was minded to ban it from broadcasting in the UK after the channel aired an interview with Maziar Bahari, an imprisoned Newsweek journalist, that had been conducted under duress.

However, after hearing final submissions from the broadcaster, and amidst a crisis in bilateral relations that has seen Britain withdraw members of its diplomatic mission from its Tehran embassy after the building was stormed by protesters, Ofcom is understood to have downgraded the sanction to a fine of £100,000.

Ofcom declined to comment ahead of official announcement from the regulator later this week, and a spokesman would only say: "We have already announced that the breach of the broadcasting code merits a sanction and we will announce our finding in due course." The regulator refused to disclose whether it had liaised with the Foreign Office over the decision.

After a year-long enquiry, Ofcom ruled in May that the channel, the overseas voice of the Tehran government, was guilty of a serious breach of broadcasting standards when it broadcast comments from Bahari, who was imprisoned for four months. The journalist said the interview was made under duress and that he was forced to read from a prepared script.

When Press TV was informed of the proposed ban last month, the channel blamed "members of the royal family and government" and Ofcom officials who were "influenced by powerful pro-Israeli politicians and US sympathisers".

In a statement published on its website today, the channel said Ofcom's decision to impose a fine was "paradoxical". It added: "Independent analysts say Ofcom is under mounting pressure from the British royal family to silence Press TV's critical voice. The British royal family exercises an overarching power over all branches in the political system of the country, including the government and the parliament, as well as on Ofcom."

According to the WikiLeaks cables, the Foreign Office told a US diplomat in 2010 that the UK government was "exploring ways to limit the operations of … Press TV." At the time, the department warned the US that "UK law sets a very high standard for denying licences to broadcasters. Licences can only be denied in cases where national security is threatened, or if granting a licence would be contrary to Britain's obligations under international law. Currently neither of these standards can be met with respect to Press TV, but if further sanctions are imposed on Iran in the coming months a case may be able to be made on the second criterion".

A Foreign Office spokesman said that there had been no government intervention in the process. The spokesman said: "We have been concerned for some time by serious allegations that Press TV has been involved in broadcasting confessions obtained under duress from individuals without access to a fair trial.

"It is right and proper that these allegations should have been investigated by Ofcom, as the independent regulator of the UK communications industry. Press TV's actions that appear complicit in such human rights violations are unacceptable and reprehensible.

"It is a matter for Ofcom to decide what penalties should be imposed. The government is not part of that decision."

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