DUSHANBE, January 9, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The BBC will launch a Persian-language TV channel next week that can be picked up in Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

According to press release issued by the BBC, BBC Persian TV will start on Wednesday January 14 at 13:30 (GTM).  BBC Persian TV will be broadcast from London every day, from 1330 to 2130 GMT.  It will broadcast news and programs on arts and sports available via cable, satellite and internet providers.

The target group of BBC Persian TV includes some 100 million people speaking in Persian – 70 million in Iran, 20million in Afghanistan and another 10 million in Tajikistan and central Asia as a whole.

BBC Persian TV will be the broadcaster''s second foreign-language TV channel. It launched BBC Arabic last year.  But the company has run a Persian-language radio service since 1940, and it operates a Persian-language news site online.

In the meantime, according to The Associated Press, Iran''s official news agency IRNA accused the British broadcaster a month ago of trying to recruit Iranians for "espionage and psychological warfare."

BBC spokesman Mike Gardner said the British Broadcasting Corp.''s only goal is to report on world events in an impartial and editorially independent manner.  But he conceded that his company has a complex relationship with the Iranian authorities.

The Associated Press quoted Mr. Garnder as saying, "We request permission to have accreditation for our BBC Persian correspondents. Sometimes we get it, sometimes we don''t. We continue to seek interviews with officials at all levels of government. Sometimes we get it, sometimes we don''t."  Gardner said the BBC had been refused permission to broadcast on Iran''s main networks, and that its online service is partially blocked within the country.

The broadcaster has a bureau in Tehran for its English-language service but has not been allowed to open a bureau for its Persian-language service.

The Associated Press noted that in addition to Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, BBC Persian TV can be seen in Britain, Dubai and most other countries in the Persian Gulf through Hotbird and Telstar satellite and cable services.