Iran 1940 : The Birth of Radio Tehran Amid Global Tension

On April 24, 1940, in Tehran, inside a still rudimentary studio whose walls were lined with thick Persian carpets to absorb the echo, Radio Tehran opened an unprecedented chapter: that of a country beginning to speak to itself and to the rest of the world.

Inauguration by the Crown Prince

That day, the official opening was conducted by Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on behalf of his father, Reza Shah. The gesture was highly symbolic, for radio was not merely a technical tool—it was a political project.

The first words broadcast were those of the founding decree. They were followed by Iranian music and a news bulletin outlining the station’s mission: to inform, educate, and unify a vast country made up of many ethnic groups.

Located near the Shemiran Gate, in what are now the buildings of the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones, the studios embodied a form of modernity that was still fragile, yet ambitious. At the time, however, only a privileged few owned radio receivers. To reach a wider audience, mobile loudspeaker trucks were used to broadcast programs across the capital.

“The 14 kW medium-wave Radio Tehran station was put into service at the end of April 1940. The government has decided to build new stations, including one in Bisim, north of Tehran, a 30 kW shortwave station, and 12 provincial medium-wave stations,” reported the monthly bulletin of the International Telecommunications Union, effectively announcing its launch. The planned provincial stations were modest, each with a power of just 125 watts.

A technological feat under influence

Behind this launch lay a more complex reality. The young station relied heavily on foreign expertise, particularly that of the German company Telefunken. In the midst of World War II, this technical choice inevitably carried political implications.

The infrastructure was as follows: a 20 kW medium-wave transmitter covered the capital (335.2 m / 895 kHz), while a second 2 kW shortwave transmitter was intended for national and international broadcasts. “Radio Tehran shortwave will broadcast its news from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the wavelength of 19.87 m, from 5:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. on 30.99 m, and from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on 48.74 m,” noted a French-language newspaper in Istanbul.

On the horizon, the 120-meter pylons erected on the site of the former Qasr prison became symbols of a city turning toward the future.

Radio Tehran, a state broadcaster

Radio Tehran was not independent. It operated under the authority of the Ministry of Education. At its head, key figures helped shape this new official voice: supervising minister Dr. Issa Sadiq, program director Ebrahim Pashina, and musician Gholamhossein Minbashian, who oversaw the music commission.

The first voices on air, Gholam-Ali Fekri and Touba Kanani, embodied this emerging modernity, balancing tradition and innovation.

Programming in its early days

In 1940, Radio Tehran broadcast only a few hours a day, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 6 p.m. to midnight. News, translated from sources such as Reuters via the Pars agency, sometimes appeared alongside dispatches of German origin. Education played a central role, with programs on hygiene, agriculture, and national history.

Music ranged from the classical Iranian repertoire (radif) to Western influences, under the direction of figures such as Rouhollah Khaleghi. From the outset, the station also looked beyond national borders, broadcasting in English, French, German, Arabic, Russian, and Turkish.

An invisible battlefield

In 1940, Iran’s neutrality was fragile. In the background, the great powers were watching closely. The presence of German technicians and certain pro-Axis tones worried London and Moscow. Radio Tehran became a field of ideological confrontation.

For Reza Shah, the objective was clear: to use radio to unify a fragmented country, connect its provinces, and impose a centralized national identity. But this ambition would soon be overtaken by the war.

1941 : the turning point

In August 1941, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran was launched. Within days, Radio Tehran changed dramatically. Programs with pro-German overtones disappeared, and the station came under partial control of the occupying forces.

The shift was immediate. The airwaves, once an instrument of sovereignty, became a strategic relay for the Allies.

It was through this very station that the population learned of a major event: the abdication of Reza Shah. His son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, succeeded him. The transfer of power was announced live, in the intimacy of homes equipped with radio sets.

Free France on the air

In the months that followed, Radio Tehran entered a new phase. It became a communication tool for the Allies: messages to troops, war bulletins, and carefully filtered information. French-language broadcasts were hosted by André Godard, representative of Free France in Iran, and his wife Yedda.

Each program now followed a strategic logic. Objectivity gave way to necessity. In barely a year, the station had fundamentally changed in nature.

Silenced during the Tehran Conference

From November 28 to December 2, 1943, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met in the Iranian capital to discuss, among other things, the postwar division of Europe and the Allied landings on the French coast. On this occasion, the Allies requested the shutdown of broadcasting transmitters. Radio Tehran went silent for a week.