TEHERAN - IRAN'S intelligence chief said that a new BBC Persian-language television channel launched on Wednesday goes against Iran's 'security.'

Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseini Ejehi was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying Iran would take steps over the issue. He did not specify the measures.

'We don't consider this channel to be appropriate for our security. We will take the necessary measures in this regard,' Mr Ejehi said.

Iranian hard-liners have warned in recent weeks that BBC was seeking to use the channel to recruit 'spies.'

The British broadcaster says BBC Persian TV took to the airwaves at 1330 GMT on Wednesday (11.30pm Singapore time). BBC said earlier that the channel would be seen in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and elsewhere, and dismissed Iranian claims of espionage links.

Iran has refused to issue press accreditation to BBC Persian TV correspondents, saying the channel is not authorised to operate in Iran.

No Western Persian-language news stations are legally available to Iranians, but illegal satellite dishes dot Teheran's skyline and many people watch foreign channels, including VOA's Persian Service broadcast in Farsi from Los Angeles and Iranian opposition Persian-language channels.

Having a satellite dish was declared illegal in the country in 1995, but authorities rarely enforce the ban and people do not hide their dishes.

BBC Persian TV is to be broadcast from London every day from 1330 to 2130 GMT (11.30pm to 5.30am Singapore time), and will be the broadcaster's second foreign-language TV channel, the British Broadcasting Corporation said. It launched BBC Arabic last year.

The company has also run a Persian-language radio service since 1940, and it operates a Persian-language news site online.

The broadcaster has a bureau in Teheran for its English-language service but hasn't been allowed to open one for its Persian-language service.

Last month, a prominent Iranian lawmaker accused the BBC of seeking to recruit, in collaboration with the British Embassy in Tehran, reporters in Iran as potential spies.

Mohammad Karim Abedi, a member of the Foreign Policy and National Security Committee of the Iranian parliament, said Iranian secret services have learned that the BBC was intent on setting up an intelligence network under the cover of journalistic activities.

BBC spokesman Mike Gardner said last week that the 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.

In addition to Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, BBC Persian TV will be received in Britain, Dubai and most other countries in the Persian Gulf through Hotbird and Telstar satellite and cable services. -- AP