BBC alleges journalists' families harassed, intimidated by Iranian authorities

When Maryam Afshang received word that her father in Iran was seriously ill and in a coma, she wanted nothing more than to be by his side.

But she couldn't — as a journalist for BBC's Persian language station in London, she risked arrest if she entered the country.

Her only window into his room was through a mobile phone her family smuggled into the hospital.

"I watched my dad in a coma through that small mobile phone. I wanted to hug him and say, 'Dad I love you,' and kiss him and say goodbye, but I couldn't — simply because I am a BBC journalist," Afshang told The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.

'Unprecedented collective punishment of journalists'

In October, the BBC filed an "urgent complaint" to the United Nations on behalf of their Persian staff.

"This is an unprecedented collective punishment of journalists who are simply doing their jobs," wrote BBC Director General Tony Hall.

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