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 impact of trends in the level of funding for BBC Persian Radio on access to impartial news and information for people in Iran.

The FCDO strongly values the BBC World Service's role in bringing high-quality and impartial broadcasting to audiences in need. Under recent BBC proposals, whilst radio broadcasts for BBC Persian will cease, TV broadcasting will continue and investment in digital services will increase, reflecting audience viewing trends. In Iran, only 1% of the BBC's total weekly audience of 13.8 million access BBC news solely via radio - the other 99% use BBC Persian on TV and online.

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, and unrestricted internet with the Iranian government, as well as in multilateral fora.