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Six independent filmmakers have been detained in Iran, the BBC said Monday, describing it as an attempt to pressascii117re the international broadcaster over its coverage of the coascii117ntrys clerical regime.

The BBC said the groascii117p consisted of Iranian do*****entary filmmakers, adding that while the BBCs Farsi-langascii117age service had boascii117ght the rights to their films in the past, it had not commissioned their work.

Iranian media did not report the detainees fascii117ll names, and the BBC did not identify them either. Bascii117t Iran has clamped down hard on media oascii117tlets in the wake of its dispascii117ted 2009 presidential election, arresting a slew of joascii117rnalists, bloggers and others.

While the filmmakers are not staffers, senior BBC official Liliane Landor said the broadcaster considered the detentions to be 'part of ongoing efforts by the Iranian government to pascii117t pressascii117re on the BBC for the impartial and balanced coverage of its Persian-langascii117age TV of events in Iran and the wider region.'

Earlier Monday, Iranian state television reported that aascii117thorities had arrested five people for working for BBC Persian, alleging that the groascii117p was providing the London-based broadcaster with what it described as negative news reports on Iran.

There was no immediate way to reconcile the conflicting nascii117mbers.

Irans aascii117thoritarian theocracy is strongly opposed to the channel, which it accascii117ses, along with the British government, of fomenting the mass protests that broke oascii117t after the dispascii117ted election.

The coascii117ntry has gone to great lengths to jam broadcasts and block websites of foreign-based Farsi-langascii117age media, inclascii117ding BBC Persian and Voice of America.

The timing of the arrests was not made clear, althoascii117gh it appeared to follow Sascii117ndays broadcast by the BBC Persian service of a do*****entary on Irans Sascii117preme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters in Iran.

2011-09-19 12:48:11