Written by ASL19 researchers for the Iran Media Program In Iran’s cultural war, television has served as a key battleground for religious, educational and cultural messaging. According to the Supreme Leader and his surrounding political circle, the state run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) has the vital mission of transmitting Islamic values through television, which is […]
Written for the Iran Media Program by ASL19 researcher Reza Akhlaghi Russia’s strategic goals in post-revolutionary Iran have vacillated in starkly different directions, moving between supporting Iraq in the devastating Iran-Iraq war, to selling billions of dollars in arms to Tehran in the 1990’s, to its present involvement in developing Iran’s nuclear program, while simultaneously […]
This post was written by ASL19 researcher Mahsa Alimardani for the Iran Media Program. When the Rouhani administration took office in an environment of pressing foreign and domestic issues, hopes for a more free and open internet were widespread among the Iranian populace and international community. The debate over whether Facebook will be unblocked in […]
Written by ASL19 for the Iran Media Program. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has long warned against the dangers of cultural assault and soft war against the ideals of the Islamic Republic. In a 2010 statement, the Islamic Development Organization (IDO), an organization established after the revolution to promote spiritual life and Islamic culture, emphasized the importance of strategy for the […]
This was originally posted to the Iran Media Program. Following the murder of the American based Iranian rock band Yellow Dogs, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance issued a permit for the burial of two of its members in the artist section of Behesht Zahra (the biggest cemetery in Tehran), initiating a wave of […]
Written by ASL19 researchers for the Iran Media Program. In a speech to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on September 17, 2013, Supreme Leader Khamenei unveiled a new approach to Iranian diplomacy, emphasizing that moving forward, it would be carried out with “heroic flexibility.” Although the term heroic flexibility remains somewhat vague and open to interpretation, […]
Written by ASL19 for the Iran Media Program. Female singers have been prohibited from performing solo in public in Iran since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. In a speech during the 14th annual House of Music Awards, celebrated Iranian musician Dariush Pirniakan criticized the fact that “women have been deprived of singing in the […]
Written with IMP. A week after President Rouhani explained that Iranians are not blocked from using satellite television at an Asia Society and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) event in the New York, a tank was commissioned to crush around 800 satellite dishes that had been voluntarily forfeited to authorities in Shiraz in return for a […]
Written with the Iran Media Program. Iranian politicians’ social media activity is something of a novelty within Iran, especially given the filtered status of many of these sites. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s popular Twitter account recently drew national and international attention when he tweeted “Happy Rosh Hashanah” on September 5th. Minority Leader of the US […]
Written with the Iran Media Program. Despite Rouhani’s promise to improve Internet policies in the Islamic Republic, the involvement of multiple stakeholders, such as the Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC) and the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) poses a challenge. While the new Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Vaezi is optimistic about instituting […]