After 82 years of operation, the final program of BBC Persian (Farsi) Radio was broadcast on Sunday, March 26.

The Farsi radio service was launched as part of the BBC’s Empire Service on December 29, 1940, with support from the Foreign Office during World War II.

It provided the latest political, social, economic and sports news relevant to Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan.

The closure follows the BBC’s strategy to create a modern, digital-led and streamlined organisation that drives the most value from the licence fee and delivers more for audiences.
The World Service had stated that it aims to save £28.5m million by closing Persian and Arabic radio stations as part of a more considerable effort to save £500 million yearly.

The corporation will also stop producing radio content in ten other languages, including Chinese and Hindi.

The broadcaster has said that the cuts result from years of UK government-imposed limits on license fees below inflation, in addition to the rising cost of producing programs.