Press TV, the London-based station that serves as Iran’s propaganda mouthpiece in the West, was today fined a record £100,000 by Britain’s media watchdog for breach of privacy.
The fine was imposed by Ofcom because Press TV broadcast an “interview” with a Newsweek journalist without revealing that it was a confession he was coerced into making while being held in a Tehran prison.
The fine, which was announced a day after the Government closed the Iranian embassy in London, exceeds the previous record of £80,000 imposed on the BBC after Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand made prank calls to the actor Andrew Sachs in 2008.
But there was speculation that Ofcom would go further and revoke Press TV’s licence.
Maziar Bahari, the Newsweek journalist, said