From the sound of modernization to the silence after the revolution: The 86-year narrative of radio in Iran

A look at the beginning of radio on May 24, 1944, and the path it took with Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi; a medium that became a symbol of modernization, but after 1978, it found a different path.

April 24 (4 Ordibehesht) is not just an ordinary day in the Iranian media calendar; it commemorates the official birth of radio as the first universal audio medium in the country. On this day in 1319, the first public transmitter, Radio Tehran, was inaugurated in Tehran, bringing a new voice into people's lives; a voice that was supposed to bring Iran closer to the modern world of communications.

But this starting point had deeper roots in the years before that. During the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the country's communication infrastructure entered a new phase. On May 26, 1926, with the launch of the first wireless telegraph transmitter, the foundations of a modern telecommunications network were laid in Iran; an action that, at the time, put Iran on the path to keeping pace with global technology. Prior to that, orders for long-wave equipment had been registered for important cities in the country such as Tabriz, Mashhad, Kerman, and Kermanshah, and even the first telecommunications towers were installed in Tehran.

This process was further complemented by technical and educational decisions. In January 1925, the government of the time moved towards the use of shortwave technology and groups were sent abroad for specialized training, a move that paved the way for the formation of radio as a public medium in the following years.

Finally, on May 24, 1944, in the presence of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (in his capacity as Crown Prince at the time), Iran's first public radio transmitter was inaugurated at the wireless site on the old Shemiran Road, and regular broadcasts began the next day. Initially, the radio only had about eight hours of programming a day; a mix of news, music, cultural, historical, and religious content, which gradually expanded.

In those years, Iran's first radio experiments took shape simultaneously with global developments and the beginning of World War II. Even the first foreign programs went on the air as early as 1319, and later various languages ​​such as French, German, Russian, Turkish, and Arabic were added to the network; a sign of the effort to transform radio into an international medium.

In the following decades, radio became one of the most important cultural and artistic tools in the country. Programs like "Flowers" not only established Iranian music, but also brought it to a professional and lasting level. Many great figures in Iranian music and literature played a role in this path, and radio became, in a way, the audio memory of Iranian culture.

However, the history of radio in Iran is not just a story of technical and cultural progress. After 1979, with the change in the country's political structure, the National Iranian Radio and Television became the "voice and image of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Many cultural analysts believe that this change limited the path of free and pluralistic development of the media and radio moved away from its leading position.

At the same time, radio itself has played a decisive role in historical turning points. Among the moments recorded in the collective memory of Iranians is the famous phrase related to the liberation of Khorramshahr: "Dear listeners! Pay attention; Khorramshahr has been liberated."

Also, important news such as the fall of governments, developments in the war, and even the announcement of the death of political and religious figures in the country, have all reached the people through this medium; a medium that, despite extensive changes, continues to be present in the daily lives of Iranians.

More than 86 years after the beginning of radio in Iran, the medium is still alive, although its historical path has had many ups and downs. For some, radio is a reminder of the formation of modern institutions in Iran during the era of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi; a period when the country's communication infrastructure was established. For others, the medium has taken on a different meaning and been defined within a new framework in the years following the 1979 revolution.

Nevertheless, radio remains one of the most enduring means of communication in Iran; a medium that has passed through history and still narrates a part of people's social life through its waves.

Author: M.R.