Wikipedia

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; Persian: سازمان صداوسیمای جمهوری اسلامی ایران, romanized: Saazmaan-e Sedaavasimaa-ye Jomhoori-ye Eslaami-ye Iran) or Seda va Sima (Persian: صدا و سیمای, lit. 'Voice and Vision') for short, 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]

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
TypeBroadcast radio, television and online
Country
Iran
AvailabilityNational
International 
Revenue40 trillion IRR ($950 million) (2019)[1]
HeadquartersJaame Jam, Park-Ave, Valiasr Street, Tehran
OwnerGovernment of Iran (publicly owned)
Key people
  • Peyman Jebelli (Director-General)
  • Mohsen Barmahani (Vice Director-General)
Launch date
1929 (radio)
1958 (television)
1966 (incorporated)
1979 (current form)
Former names
National Iranian Radio and Television
Official website
www.irib.ir
IRIB's northeast gate along Valiasr Street, Tehran

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, such as Azerbaijani and Kurdish, as well as the local 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.[citation needed] It also publishes the Persian-language newspaper Jam-e Jam.[5]

History

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Before the 1979 revolution

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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

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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.[clarification needed]

Broadcasting sign

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  •  
    Sign of National Iranian Radio and Television
  •  
    Sign of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting

The IRIB sign includes the Emblem of the Islamic Republic at the top and two characters "لا". When this sign was conceived at the beginning of the revolution, it represented the revolution's slogan of "neither Eastern, nor Western – Islamic Republic" and thus symbolized denial of both capitalist and communist influence or specifically the United States and Soviet Union. These two words at the middle get together like a channel and there is an eye sign at the intersection of them (which was later adapted into the logo of the flagship television channel). At the bottom of the sign, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting phrase is written in Nastaliq font in the Persian language.

Organisational structure

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According to Article 175 of the Iranian constitution,

  1. The freedom of expression and dissemination of thoughts in the Radio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran must be guaranteed in keeping with the Islamic criteria and the best interests of the country.
  2. The appointment and dismissal of the head of the Radio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran rest with the Leader. A council consisting of two representatives each of the President, the head of the judiciary branch, and the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Iranian parliament shall supervise the functioning of this organization.
  3. The policies and the manner of managing the organization and its supervision will be determined by law.

Channels operated by IRIB

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  • IRIB TV1: Iran’s first and longest-running television channel, launched in 1958. It offers a wide array of programs including drama series, major Iranian movie premieres, talk shows, news coverage, and live broadcasts of the Friday prayers.
  • IRIB TV2: Similar to IRIB TV1, IRIB TV2 offers a variety of programming, including miniseries, comedies, children’s content, talk shows, news, and original films. It is promoted as the family-friendly network of the IRIB family.
  • IRIB TV3: Known for its youth-oriented content, IRIB TV3 places a significant emphasis on sports, airing major Iranian sporting events, along with comedies, mini-series, and both local and international movies.
  • IRIB TV4: A channel with a more intellectual focus, IRIB TV4 showcases documentaries, academic discussions, interviews with scholars, artistic films, economic shows, theatrical productions, and philosophical programs.
  • IRIB TV5/IRIB Tehran: Dedicated to viewers in Tehran, this channel features content specifically tailored to the local audience.
  • IRINN: IRIB's primary news channel, providing updates on current events along with coverage of sports, science, and health topics.
  • Press TV: An English-language, 24-hour news channel that focuses on Iranian foreign policy and has been accused of broadcasting government-backed propaganda, which has led to its bans and sanctions in several Western countries.

Affiliates

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  • Jam-e Jam is the official organ of the IRIB organization.
  • IRIB News Department is a news agency affiliated to the IRIB organization.
  • IRIB has a movie production company, called Sima Film.
  • IRIB also outsources media production to numerous privately owned domestic media companies.
  • TAKTA Co. produces technical equipment such as transmission and switching systems for IRIB
  • Soroush Rasaneh Co. IT & ICT Company related to IRIB which provides IPTV services and it has 26 branch offices in Iran.
  • Soroush Multimedia Co. provides CD/DVD of IRIB programs and holds some special short term education in 31 offices all over provinces of Iran.
  • IRIB Pension Fund Co. is the holding company of 17 companies related to IRIB, such as Soroush Multimedia Co., Soroush Rasaneh Co., and TAKTA CO.
  • IRIB University Archived 2012-12-13 at the Wayback Machine provides some courses related to media
  • IRIB Research Center is responsible for research in the social and religious fields related to media.
  • IRIB Media Trade, known before as Cima Media Int'l, is the sole representative of IRIB in the distribution of its productions (documentaries, feature films, TV series, telefilms and animations) as well as program acquisition for local IRIB TV channels.
  • IRIB HD was a television channel run by IRIB. It was one of the recent television channels in Iran and was launched on June 15, 2014. This channel was a channel for test HD broadcasting. At 25 January 2016, it was removed in Tehran and replaced by provincial channel IRIB Tehran, as IRIB TV5 has been national.[citation needed]

Heads

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Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
 
since 2021
Reports toCouncil of representatives of two each from:
President of Iran
Head of the Judiciary
Islamic Consultative Assembly
AppointerSupreme Leader of Iran
Constituting instrumentArticle 175 of the Constitution of Iran
PrecursorDirector-General of National Iranian Radio and Television (1966–1979)
Inaugural holderReza Ghotbi
Formation1966 (as Director-General of National Iranian Radio and Television)

The director-general of IRIB is Peyman Jebelli, who was appointed by the Supreme Leader of Iran in 2021.

# President Years Time in post
1 Reza Ghotbi 1966–1979 13 years
2 Sadegh Ghotbzadeh 1979 1 year
— Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha (acting)
& Other acting committees 		1979–1981 2 years
3 Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani 1981–1994 12 years
4 Ali Larijani 1994–2004 10 years
5 Ezzatollah Zarghami 2004–2014 10 years
6 Mohammad Sarafraz 2014–2016 2 years
7 Abdulali Ali-Asgari 2016–2021 5 years
8 Peyman Jebelli 2021–present in post

Controversies

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The isolation of Iran’s movie industry has forced filmmakers to reorient themselves around national television broadcasters. These networks churn out ideological products in line with the state’s Islamic gender norms, with women sometimes cast in traditional roles and deferential to men, who are portrayed as their guardians and protectors. Amid the intensified conflict with the United States, Iran’s security establishment has emerged as a major producer of blockbuster television and film centering on the prowess of the Revolutionary Guards and its intelligence services. Iran is awash in sophisticated domestic versions of “Homeland,” and lacks the self-interrogating, subversive cinema that allows a society to have a public conversation with itself about gender, culture, marriage and power.[8]

Allegations of false confessions

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A study published in June 2020 by the Justice for Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights claimed that Iranian television had broadcast the potentially coerced confessions of 355 detainees since 2010.[9] Former prisoners stated they had been beaten and received threats of sexual violence as a means for their false testimonies to be delivered for use by the country's broadcasters.[9]

Censorship of reformists

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IRIB, along with other Iranian state-run media, tend to censor or silence voices or opinions of reformist politicians as well ridicule them even as the reformists are in power since IRIB's editorial bias is more closer to the Supreme Leader and the Principlist.[10][11]

April 2024 Iranian strikes in Israel

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In April 2024, Iranian state television under the guise of supposed destruction in Israel due to an attack by Iranian missiles and drones, actually showed footage of a fire in Chile, filmed several months ago.[12]

International sanctions

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United States

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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.[13]

European Union

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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.[14] Following this order, Eutelsat ceased broadcasts of the IRIB international channels for the Europe region via Hot Bird satellite on 21 December 2022.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "آیا تلویزیون دولتی ایران از برنامه مخصوص کودکان بخش فارسی بی‌بی‌سی نگران است؟". BBC News فارسی (in Persian).
  2. ^ "IRIB's Testimony Submitted to The WHO Public Hearings on FCTC" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 13, 2016.
  3. ^ "Can Iran's new TV chief bring IRIB, Rouhani closer?". 16 November 2014.
  4. ^ Dehghan ht, Saeed Kamali (6 February 2014). "Rouhanicare: Iran's president promises healthcare for all by 2018". The Guardian. IRIB is independent of the Iranian government and its head is appointed directly by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is the only legal TV and radio broadcaster inside the country but millions of Iranians watch foreign-based channels via illegal satellite dishes on rooftops.
  5. ^ "IRIB at a glance". Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  6. ^ Sreberny-Mohammadi, Encyclopædia Iranica.رده:مقاله‌هایی که تجمیع ارجاع در آن‌ها ممنوع است
  7. ^ تورج و ایرج؛ فرازمند از نگاه پزشک‌زاد Archived 2016-06-09 at the Wayback Machine، بی‌بی‌سی فارسی
  8. ^ Moaveni, Azadeh; Tahmasebi, Sussan (2021). "The Middle-Class Women of Iran Are Disappearing". The International Crisis Group.
  9. ^ a b Gambrell, Jon (25 June 2020). "Report: Iran TV airs 355 coerced confessions over decade". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Censorship and Self-Censorship During the Protests". IranWire | خانه. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  11. ^ "Censorship and Self-Censorship During the Protests". journalismisnotacrime.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  12. ^ Iran state TV airs clip of blaze in Chile, claims it shows destruction in Israel
  13. ^ Press Center treasury.gov
  14. ^ "COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2022/2428 of 12 December 2022 implementing Regulation (EU) No 359/2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Iran". europa.eu. Official Journal of the European Union. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Eutelsat statement on the suspension of broadcasting activities with respect to certain channels in Russia and Iran". Eutelsat. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
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