German public broadcasters ZDF and ARD say their journalists are being prevented from doing their jobs, with the ZDF team barred from reporting and ARD correspondent Peter Mezger no longer allowed to leave his hotel.

The journalist told the Bayrischer Rundfunk television network that the situation had escalated after Ahmadinejad accused foreign press of blowing the demonstrations out of proportion.

Metzger said militiamen had taken the president's words as a call to action and had clamped down on international media as a result. He said a group of six men had appeared in the ARD office in Tehran armed with truncheons and electronic shock devices, and had taken one of his colleagues with them. His whereabouts is still unkown.

In a letter to the Iranian ambassador in Berlin, the editors-in-chief of the two stations, said: “We see a breach of freedom of the press and democratic principles.” They insisted, however, that they would continue to report in a “critical, fair and independent” manner.

Electronic jamming

The BBC has also reported difficulties. It says the satellites it uses for its Persian radio and television services have been affected by “heavy electronic jamming” which was becoming “progressively worse.” Technicians have traced the jam back to Iran.

Director of the BBC World Service, Peter Horrocks, said that any attempt to block its broadcasts was “wrong and against international treaties on satellite communication.” He added that it appeared to be “part of a pattern of behavior by the Iranian authorities to limit the reporting of the aftermath of the disputed election.”

The AP news agency said it had been told by government representatives not to deliver any footage to the BBC Persian service, which is very popular in Iran, or to Voice of America.

Whatever it takes

A Dutch television crew for public broadcaster Nederland 2 said one of its journalists and cameramen had been arrested while filming outside the headquarters of Ahmadinejad's closest challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

“They were pushed against a wall and their tapes were seized. Their filming permits were withdrawn and they had to leave the country immediately,” Nederland 2 said in a statement.

The Arab news station Al-Arabiya was shut down for a week, while a Spanish journalist also reported the confiscation of footage of some of the post-election protests.

Press inside Iran has shown very little sign of the ongoing unrest and an editor of the pro-Mousavi newspaper Kalemeh Sabs said the authorities had forbidden the distribution of the paper on Sunday.

Deeply concerned

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has expressed his concern about the mounting tension in Tehran and has summoned the Iranian ambassador. In an interview with ZDF television on Sunday night, he said the accusations of election fraud had to be clarified "immediately and without delay."

Steinmeier also criticized the police violence towards pro-opposition demonstrators. "The actions of the Iranian security forces are completely unacceptable," he said, adding that Berlin was watching Teheran "with great concern."

tkw/AFP/AP
Editor: Jennifer Abramson