Complaint
The programme included an interview with the Commissioner for Countering Extremism, which the presenter introduced by referring to reports that the Israeli Embassy had been targeted by five Iranian men who had been arrested on suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism. A listener complained this was misleading, as the men had been released from police custody without charge. He also objected to a statement in the introduction to the interview that security officials had warned that tensions with Iran could lead to violence spilling over onto the streets of the UK, which he considered alarmist and Iranophobic. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The presenter’s remarks were an accurate reflection of what was known at the time and, although the men had been released without charge, the Metropolitan Police had made clear their investigation of a suspected plot to attack the Israeli Embassy was ongoing. His reference to the possibility of tensions with Iran leading to violence in the streets of the UK reflected concerns genuinely held by experts (including the Commissioner for Countering Extremism himself, as seen in his evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee).
Not upheld