The BBC has been accused of yet another act of media manipulation, this time mistranslating remarks by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during a briefing on the ongoing war with Iran.
By altering a key word in his speech, the broadcaster falsely implied Washington was targeting the Iranian populace rather than the regime.
? BBC Persian, which broadcasts to audiences inside Iran, mistranslated remarks by the US secretary of defence, telling viewers Washington was bringing death to the Iranian “people”
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 6, 2026
Find out more ??https://t.co/W0ZfhgsBbX pic.twitter.com/YdZ6ulQmci
This incident echoes the deceptive editing tactics that prompted President Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, where the network spliced his January 6 speech to misrepresent his words.
In a Pentagon press conference on March 2, Hegseth addressed Operation Epic Fury, the US-led military campaign against Iran.
Hegseth stated: “Turns out the regime that chanted ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ was gifted death from America and death from Israel.”
However, BBC Persian, which reaches audiences inside Iran, rendered “regime” as “mardom”—meaning “people”—fundamentally changing the meaning to suggest the US was bringing death to ordinary Iranians.
Whoops! An easy mistake to make, right.
The mistranslation drew swift backlash on social media.
Reactions poured in, with users slamming the BBC’s track record. One commenter noted: “There’s a reason we call them Ayatollah BBC.”
Another added: “BBC’s coverage on Iran and the war has been absolutely horrendous. No Iranian I know watches this garbage anymore. CNN is just as bad.”
A further response highlighted: “BBC Persian is famous in Iran for being pro regime.”
Others echoed the sentiment: “I’m surprised NOT. That’s what they’ve been doing since day one of their existence. They’ve always amplified the regime’s propaganda and that’s why Iranians call it Ayatollah BBC. The English service was a dedicated mouthpiece for Khomeini in the run up to the 1979 revolution too. We hate the lot of them.”
The BBC has not issued a direct response to the mistranslation claims in available reports, but the incident fuels ongoing scrutiny of its impartiality, especially given its history of controversial coverage on Middle East affairs.
This latest slip-up arrives as the BBC faces mounting pressure from Trump’s lawsuit, set for trial in February 2027, over similar allegations of deliberate distortion.
Leaked internal memos in that case labeled edits as “completely misleading,” and US regulators like FCC Chairman Brendan Carr have probed related media hoaxes.
As foreign broadcasters like the BBC continue to shape narratives reaching global audiences, such errors—or manipulations—underscore the need for accountability to prevent the spread of disinformation that could inflame tensions further.
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