Complaints to the BBC

David Morrison

The BBC coverage of the US/Israel aggression against Iran has been disgraceful.  Here are the three examples of their coverage, to which I made formal complaints.

1 Newsnight, 12 January 2026

Ayatollah not implacably opposed to compromise

On this programme, Sir Alex Younger (the former head of MI6) asserted that Ayatollah Khamenei is “is just implacably, implacably opposed to any compromise”.  That is untrue since the Ayatollah didn’t veto Iran signing the JCPoA nuclear agreement with the US (and the other permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany) in July 2015. 

The JCPoA placed severe limitations on Iran’s nuclear programme, in particular, on its uranium enrichment.  If the JCPoA was in force today, it would restrict Iran to a mere 300kg of uranium enriched to no more than 3.67 per cent, far from the quantity or purity needed for a nuclear weapon.  A Supreme Leader implacably opposed to any compromise would never have agreed to these limitations. In exchange for these limitations, the onerous economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and EU in January 2012 were lifted. 

On the present situation in Iran, Sir Richard said: “This is pretty clear: this is about the economy.  There’s not enough to eat in Iran.  The reason for that is because of the sanctions and the sanctions are in place because of Iran’s nihilist total resistance policy conducted by Khamenei.”

The last sentence is untrue: the current US sanctions against Iran are not “in place because of Iran’s nihilist total resistance policy conducted by Khamenei”.  They are in place today because in May 2018 President Trump violated the JCPoA by reinstating the US sanctions that were in place prior to the JCPoA coming into force.  He did so despite the fact that Iran was in full compliance with the agreement, ten reports by the IAEA, the latest in May 2018, having confirmed this.

Another indication that Ayatollah Khamenei is not implacably opposed to compromise is that last May Iran expressed a willingness to negotiate a deal with the US similar to the JCPoA (see https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/iran-enriched-uranium-nuclear-deal-trump-rcna206833)

2 BBC News at Six, 3 February 2026

Sarah Smith, the BBC’s North American correspondent, told News at Six viewers on 3 February 2026 that “Donald Trump is demanding that Iran gets rid of its nuclear weapons program”.  

That statement gave viewers the impression that Iran has a nuclear weapons program when, according to US intelligence, it hasn’t. 

In December 2007, the US administration published declassified Key Judgments from a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) entitled Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities.  Its principal conclusion was that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in the autumn of 2003 and hadn’t restarted it. 

Since then, the US has regularly restated this view.  For example, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told NBC’s Meet The Press in February 2013 that Iran has “not made the decision to proceed with the development of a nuclear weapon.”

And in March 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the US Senate Intelligence Committee: “The IC [Intelligence Community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.” 

My complaint is that Sarah Smith’s statement on Iran’s nuclear program is inaccurate.

3  Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, 1 March 2026

Interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg on this programme, Zack Polanski emphasised the need for negotiations with Iran.  In response, she asked:

“Why do you think that negotiations [with Iran] could have been an option here?  What evidence do you have of that when it’s failed for decades?”

This assertion by Laura Kuenssberg that negotiations with Iran have “failed for decades” is manifestly untrue.

On 14 July 2015, Iran signed a nuclear agreement with the US and the other permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.  This agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), was endorsed unanimously by the Security Council in resolution 2231 on 14 July 2015.  Contrary to what Laura Kuenssberg told viewers, negotiations with Iran were spectacularly successful in July 2015.

The JCPoA imposed severe limitations on Iran’s nuclear programme, for example, Iran was restricted to holding a mere 300kg of uranium enriched to no more than 3.67 per cent, which is far from the quantity or purity needed for a nuclear weapon.  In exchange for these limitations, the onerous economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and EU were lifted.

In May 2018, President Trump tore up the JCPoA, unilaterally breaching UN Security Council resolution 2231, and reimposed sanctions on Iran.  He did so despite the fact that (a) the IAEA had continuously reported that Iran was in compliance with the agreement and (b) the agreement restricted Iran’s uranium enrichment to a level far below the purity needed for a nuclear weapon.  

Today, President Trump constantly talks about the need for an agreement with Iran guaranteeing that it won’t develop nuclear weapons.  There was one a decade ago.  He broke it.