Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; Persian: صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران) formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian revolution of 1979, is an Iranian state-controlled media corporation that holds a monopoly of domestic radio and television services in Iran. It is also among the largest media organizations in Asia and the Pacific region and a regular member of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.[2][3] Its head is appointed directly by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.[4]
Type
Broadcast radio, television and online
National
International
Jaame Jam, Park-Ave, Valiasr Street, Tehran
Government of Iran (publicly owned)
- Peyman Jebelli (Director-General)
- Mohsen Barmahani (Vice Director-General)
1929 (radio)
1958 (television)
1966 (incorporated)
1979 (current form)
With 13,000 employees and branches in 20 countries worldwide, including France, Belgium, Guyana, Malaysia, Lebanon, United Kingdom, the United States, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting offers both domestic and foreign radio and television services, broadcasting twelve domestic television channels, four international news television channels, six satellite television channels for international audiences, and thirty provincial television channels available countrywide, half of which are broadcast in minority-status languages in Iran, for example Azerbaijani and Kurdish, as well as the local accents or dialects of Persian. IRIB provides twelve radio stations for domestic audiences, and through the IRIB World Service, thirty radio stations are available for foreign and international audiences. It also publishes the Persian-language newspaper Jam-e Jam.[5]
History[edit]
Before the 1979 revolution[edit]
On 24 April 1940, Radio Iran was officially opened by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – the then crown prince of Iran – with Isa Sedigh as the first head of the company.[6] The channel broadcast five hour programs including news, traditional and western music, religious and sports programming as well as programs dedicated to economic and political discussion. according to estimates from the Statistical Center of Iran, in 1976 about 76% of urban population and 45% of rural population had access to the radio.
National Iranian Television officially opened on 21 March 1967 to create National Iranian Radio and Television. At that time, hardware equipment was at the disposal of the Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephone and its media was producing by Advertising and publishing department. In later years, radio and television expansion request across the country to create an integrated entity and from 1971 all facilities was given to National Radio and Television. The Shah personally appointed Reza Ghotbi as head of organization and the duration of the programs increased quickly. At the end of revolution two TV channels (first program and second program) was active and with facilities expansion, more than 95% of Urban population and about 75% of country population was able to receive TV waves. Before the revolution about 40% of TV programs was foreign and also imported and internal programs were usually modelled from foreign programs.
During the revolution, when Arteshbod Azhari became prime minister of Iran, Touraj Farazmand was chosen for head of National Iranian Radio and Television after Reza Ghotbi.[7]
After the 1979 revolution[edit]
The organization expanded greatly after 1979 revolution, and in addition to internal and global broadcasting channels, it manages more than one hundred electronic and written media.
A broadcasting budget of 4000 billion Tomans was expected in the 2018 budget bill, however, according to Ali Asgari (the organization manager), a channel budget like that of BBC Persian consists of over 6000 billion Tomans and IRIB needs a larger budget for managing 62 TV channels and 83 radio channels.
International sanctions[edit]
United States[edit]
Pursuant to the United States Presidential Executive Order 13628, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is subjected to U.S. sanctions under Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act which gives the Treasury Department the authority to designate those in Iran who restrict or deny the free flow of information to or from the Iranian people.[15]
European Union[edit]
IRIB was placed in the list of sanctioned entities of the European Union in December 2022 due to its role in the repression of the Mahsa Amini protests.[16] Following this order, Eutelsat ceased broadcasts of the IRIB international channels for the Europe region via Hot Bird satellite on 21 December 2022.[17]