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Iran has arrested, questioned and intimidated relatives of journalists working for the London-based BBC Persian Television in its latest crackdown on press freedom.

It comes just two weeks after the arrests in Tehran of documentary film-makers accused of secretly working inside the country for the Farsi-language service.

Peter Horrocks, the head of global news at the BBC, said on Wednesday that relatives and friends of around 10 of the channel's Iranian staff who work in the UK have been approached by the authorities. He called on the Iranian government to "repudiate the actions of its officials" and urged the British government to "deter the Iranian government" from attempts to undermine free media.

"Passports have been confiscated, homes searched and threats made. The relatives have been told to tell the BBC staff to stop appearing on air, to return to Iran, or to secretly provide information on the BBC to the Iranian authorities," he wrote on the BBC blog The Editors.