Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the planned closure of some BBC World Service Persian services, in the context of protests in Iran.

The FCDO strongly values the BBC World Service's role in bringing high-quality and impartial broadcasting to audiences in need. The FCDO funds 12 language services through the World2020 programme; the remaining services, including BBC Persian, are funded by the Licence Fee. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from Government and therefore decisions about service delivery are for them to take.

Under BBC proposals, whilst BBC Persian radio will cease, TV broadcasting will continue and investment in digital services will increase, reflecting audience trends - according to the BBC, only 1% of their Iranian audience use BBC Persian radio.

The UK is a fierce champion of media freedom and proud member of the Media Freedom Coalition. We regularly raise the issue of the Iranian peoples' right to access independent media, including BBC Persian with the Iranian government and in multilateral fora.