An senior Iranian official on Wednesday voiced dismay at launching British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Persian TV service.

"Launching BBC Persian service TV is detrimental to Iranian national security", the official IRNA news agency quoted Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejeie as saying.

He warned that Tehran would take "necessary measures" to thwart the plan.

Reportedly, BBC Persian TV will broadcast for eight hours a day, seven days a week, in Farsi language in peak viewing time of the countries of Iran and Afghanistan from London on January 14.

According to media observers, most of the Iranians from different ethnic groups, either Persian or others, have access to satellite dishes country-wide and are following global events through diverse domestic and foreign satellite channels.

Since 1940, the BBC has been broadcasting in Farsi on the radio.

Managers of the radio station claim that it has an audience of some 10 million people every week and they hopes the television service to reach the same figure within three years.

Source:Xinhua