I went to Iran in 2017 - the regime wants just one thing, Western media are giving it to them.

International broadcasters want to 'hold people to account and show both sides of the argument'. Totalitarian regimes use that to enable repression.

My former BBC Newsnight colleague and experienced war reporter Mark Urban has written an excellent substack post about the decision by the BBC and others to send reporters to cover Iran’s 47th Anniversary celebrations of the Islamic Revolution. I respectfully disagree with his conclusions and wanted to add some perspective as someone who supported these…