Fifteen former Iran hostages have censured the Swedish government for “lack of meaningful action” to free Swedish-Iranian doctor Ahmadreza Djalali, who has been on death row in Iran for more than 6 years.
“Sweden has done little to secure his release and also inexcusably failed to provide his family with the level of support and information they need and deserve,” the signatories write in a letter dated 25 April, the eve of Djalali’s eighth year in prison.
Djalali was arrested in April 2016, visiting Iran on an academic trip at the invitation of the University of Tehran and Shiraz University. He was charged with espionage and collaboration with Israel two weeks after his arrest –a charge leveled at many, often with little or no real evidence. In October 2017, he was sentenced to death.
“As former hostages who endured the harrowing ordeal of prolonged unlawful detention in Iran,” the letter reads, “we write to express our deep concern over the ongoing lack of meaningful action taken by your government to secure the release of Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish physician on death row in the notorious Evin Prison.”
The signatories include Barry Rosen, who was taken hostage in Iran in 1979, when young supporters of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stormed the US embassy in Tehran, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who spent six years in arbitrary detention in Iran, before reuniting with his family in the UK in 2022. Also on the signatories list is Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Sharghi, three of five US citizens released in 2023, as part of a deal brokered by the Biden administration, in which the US released 5 Iranian prisoners and paid $6 billion to the Iranian government.
That deal was heavily criticized at the time, and even more so after October 7th, when critics blamed the Biden administration for replenishing Iran’s coffers shortly before Hamas, sponsored by the regime in Tehran, attacked Israel.
“There is also an obligation incumbent on all of us to upend the vicious but prospering enterprise of hostage-taking by rogue states,” former Iran hostages write to the Swedish prime minister. “We ask that your government join forces with other countries whose citizens are being arbitrarily detained by the Islamic Republic and its ilk, and to attack the problem at its root. We must collectively devise and enforce draconian penalties that would deter this inhumane practice from happening in the first place.”
Taking hostages under false judicial pretexts has become normal practice in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Foreign and dual-national travelers are detained and used as bargaining chips by the government in dealing with western governments.
Many human rights activists are concerned that Dr Djalali could be used by authorities in Iran to secure the release –and return– of Hamid Nouri, a key figure in mass execution of Iranian political prisoners in 1988. He was a former Islamic official who was arrested in Stockholm airport in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison in 2023, after a long trial in which many former Iranian prisoners now in exile testified.
“It would be a tragedy of unacceptable proportions if Dr. Djalali—or any of your arbitrarily detained citizens—is excluded in any future prisoner deals,” former Iran hostages conclude their letter. “Sweden has a clear duty to secure the safe return of all its innocent citizens that Tehran is using as pawns in its wicked game of hostage diplomacy.”
The signatories and the years they spent as hostages in Iran are as follows:
Barry Rosen (1979- 1981), Jason Rezaian (2014 - 2016), Nizar Zakka (2015- 2019), Siamak Namazi (2015 - 2023), Mohammad Baquer Namazi (2016- 2022), Xiyue Wang (2016- 2019), Kamran Ghaderi (2016- 2023), Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (2016- 2022), Anoosheh Ashouri (2017- 2022), Kylie Moore-Gilbert (2018- 2020), Morad Tahbaz (2018- 2023), Emad Sharghi (2018- 2023), Benjamin Briere(2020- 2023), Fariba Adelkhah (2019- 2023), Roland Marchal (2019- 2020)
When the 'national radio' was introduced in Iran in 1939, there was an abundance of print media in the country. However, nearly 80 percent of the population was illiterate and unable to engage with the politically diverse media landscape. Radio emerged as a platform accessible to all, providing a means for engaging with the nation.
For four decades, Radio Iran served as a platform for the monarchy, promoting Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's "positive nationalism" rhetoric. It also aided the country's technocrats in advancing a robust development plan, supported by the 1949 US-sponsored Point Four plan. This initiative, hailed by Washington as "a bold new program," aimed to leverage US scientific and industrial advancements for the growth and development of underdeveloped regions.
Radio Iran started its programming with news and entertainment for a few hours a day with the national hymn being broadcast at the beginning and end of daily programs. The hymn's starting lyric "Long live the Sha!" was indicative of the radio's political slant although leftist intellectuals and non-militant Islamists had their own share of the radio's limited airtime.
Radio Iran's biggest contribution to Iran's development, particularly in the 1950s, and 1960s was its advocacy of elements of progress including literacy, industrial and agricultural modernization, family planning and public education about concepts such as women's liberty and emancipation. The radio also advocated liberal ideas about political participation and the rights of workers and farmers.
During the 1950s and 1960s, as Radio Iran expanded to 24/7 programming, it embraced the ideals of the United Nations for a better future for humanity. One notable program, "Let's Make the World a Better Place for All," exemplified this vision. The radio aimed to connect Iranians with the global community, emphasizing their role in a rapidly progressing world. Live broadcasts of events like the Olympics and milestones such as satellite launches underscored this effort to keep Iranians abreast of global developments.
Meanwhile, without succumbing to the influence of Muslim extremists, the radio aired religious programs during the Islamic holy months of Muharram and Ramadan, spotlighting key Shiite religious events. Additionally, a prominent cleric, Hossein Ali Rashed, hosted a highly popular hour-long primetime program every Thursday, attracting millions of listeners across Iran.
Perhaps more significant than all other programs from the 1950s to the late 1970s, was a three-hour long daily women's program every morning from 8:30 to 11:30, which offered more than cooking, public health and home economics points. The program "Woman and Life" hosted by renowned female celebrities such as Moloud Atefi, Forouzandeh Arbabi and Sorour Mahneshan played a key part in introducing the idea of women's equality with men. The idea was conveyed so delicately that it faced no objection from the traditional segments of the population.
At night, the radio showcased Iran's finest classical and pop music, along with the latest hits from the US and Europe. Afternoon hosts engaged listeners with discussions over tea. A program titled "Of Everything, Everywhere, Everybody" provided practical public knowledge interspersed with popular songs.
The news programs, while consistently beginning with coverage of the Shah, remained relatively impartial and politically balanced, free from ideological bias. Current affairs segments permitted moderate criticism of the system's deficiencies. Additionally, content from Tehran's outspoken press was incorporated into radio broadcasts without fear of reprisal for broadcasters, writers, or presenters. It was a regulated media landscape, characterized by limited control rather than totalitarianism, allowing for certain civil and social liberties.
The 1979 Islamic revolution wrought profound changes in Iran, including a radical transformation of the national radio. Overnight, women singers vanished from the airwaves, replaced by mournful songs depicting early Islamic tragedies. Female presenters became scarce, smiles were banned on TV, and radio content rendered women nearly invisible. Yet, this state of affairs was unsustainable.
It wasn't until nearly a decade later that women began to reappear in news and children's programs. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a brief window for criticism opened in the morning program "Hello, Good Morning," but dissent was swiftly stifled as the regime grew intolerant.
Since 1979, Radio Iran has remained deeply ideological, adhering strictly to the government's official narrative, even in accounts of Islamic history. The station's disregard for public taste has alienated listeners, with many turning to foreign-based media for news. State broadcaster research acknowledges declining viewership for state TV but remains silent on the radio's fate.
Listeners are not to blame for Radio Iran's decline, as repetitive ideological propaganda fails to engage or inform. Recent TV programs have featured celebrities confessing to favoring old songs over state radio broadcasts. Despite this, podcasts have emerged as a vibrant alternative, offering diverse content free from censorship. One such podcast, "Radio Nist" ("It's Not Radio"), explores Iran's radio history, including an episode titled "Radio Ark," named after Tehran's Ark Square, home to Radio Iran's former studios.