The BBC has come under fire after one of its commentators rejected the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as an Israeli “hoax”.
Mohamed Mohsen Abo El-Nour has appeared on the public broadcaster’s Arabic language channel more than a dozen times since the October 7 terror attacks in Israel took place in 2023.
He serves as chairman of the Arab Forum for Analysing Iranian Policies (AFAIP).
Mr El-Nour had shared a Facebook post entitled: “Trump and his Khamenei assassination plan hoax”.
He then claimed that Mr Trump had fallen for an “Israeli strategic deceit plan”.
The AFAIP chairman claimed the Supreme Leader was in fact still alive when the President confirmed his death and that Israel was hoping it encourage him to “come out of his secret hiding place”.
But he was invited by BBC Arabic to appear on the channel the very next day to discuss the implications of his death following confirmation from the Islamic Republic.
The BBC’s decision to allow Mr El-Nour to appear on the channel has been criticised by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera).
Mr El-Nour claimed that Mr Trump had fallen for an ‘Israeli strategic deceit plan’
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BBC ARABIC
A Camera spokesman said the BBC “cannot simply hide behind claims about offering ‘various perspectives’, and it has a responsibility not to platform these dubious authors as contributors in the first place”.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the BBC described Mr El-Nour’s views as “abhorrent”, insisting they “were not expressed on the BBC, and we do not endorse them”.
However, it is not the first time Mr El-Nour has caused controversy over his social media activity.
In November 2025, he gave a glowing endorsement of a book to his followers written by a Holocaust-denying French author.
The AFAIP chairman claimed that the Supreme Leader was in fact still alive
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GETTY
Meanwhile, in text messages sent by the AFAIP head in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks in Israel – which left 1,200 people dead – he claimed none of Israelis who had been murdered were civilians.
He also referred to Hamas terrorists behind the massacre as “heroes”, before describing those who engage with Jewish people as “cowardly”.
The public broadcaster’s Arabic news service has previously sparked outrage over its coverage of previous conflicts in the Middle East.
In November, Michael Prescott, former Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee for the BBC, sent a scathing memo to all board members of the broadcaster, horrified by their lack of action over numerous instances of bias.
The BBC described Mr El-Nour’s views as ‘abhorrent’
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GETTYAccording to the report, BBC Arabic “minimised Israeli suffering” in the war against Gaza in order to “paint Israel as the aggressor”.
Claims and allegations against Israel were said to have been “raced to air” without appropriate checks, while the service gave more time to statements from Hamas.
The memo also says the channel had “a desire always to believe the worst about Israel”, while giving “unjustifiable weight” to Hamas’ claims about the death toll in Gaza.
It also highlighted BBC Arabic reporter Samer Elzaenen, who previous said Jewish people should be burned “as Hitler did”, appearing on the channel almost 250 times.
