TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- The activities of the week-old BBC Persian TV channel are illegal, a top Iranian official said Wednesday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. BBC says the news it broadcasts on the channel is gathered from abroad, using sources within Iran. The minister of culture and Islamic guidance, Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi, also banned Iranian journalists and artists from working for the channel. A BBC spokesman in London, England, said the corporation is breaking no laws in Iran. BBC Persian TV launched January 14, broadcasting in Farsi to Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, the BBC spokesman said. It joins the 69-year-old BBC Persian radio service and the Web site BBCPersian.com, launched in 2001.
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Iran also bans Iranian journalists and artists from working for the channel
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BBC spokesman says British broadcaster is breaking no laws in Iran
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BBC Persian TV launched January 14, broadcasting in Farsi
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Channel shows news, documentaries, debates on arts, culture and science
Harandi added that various government officials had declared that cooperating with the channel would lead to problems for @placeholder professionals, the news agency said.