CURRENTS IN NATIONAL VOICE OF IRAN BROADCAST: JANUARY-MARCH 1980

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81B00401R000600050013-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 31, 2006
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: April 14, 1980
• Content Type: MEMO

TASK FORCE AREA
CIA OPERATIONS CENTER
15 April 1980
This memorandum is partially
in response to a 9 April Evans and
Novak column on the National Voice
of Iran (NVOI).
The article contains two major
errors. It contends that NVOI
supports the position of the militants
holding the US Embassy. The article
also asserts that NVOI criticized
Bani-Sadr for giving concessions to
"capitalists" and taking money from
"toiling peoples' pockets" when he
was Minister of Economics.
In point of fact, NVOI has not
addressed the hostage issue directly.
Moreover, the statement on Bani-Sadr
was made by the Tudeh Central Com-
mittee on 31 January and reprinted..
in Le Monde on 2 February.
The memorandum distills NVOI
subject matter over the past three
months (January-March) and dis-
cusses how this Soviet-controlled
instrument has geared its broadcasts
to the theme of Islamic revolution.
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A v
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14 April 1980
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Currents in National Voice of Iran Broadcast:
January-March 1980
Summary
Created in 1959, the National Voice of Iran (NVOI) is
an instrument of Soviet propaganda to Iran. The radio
broadcasting facility, located in Baku, the capital of
Soviet Azarbayjan, denies affiliation with the Soviet govern-
ment. Its broadcasts are typically more extreme than the
Soviet press, probably because of this "non-official" status.
Commentaries are predominately in Persian with a few in
Azarbayjani. The tone and content of the programming,
however, are identical in both languages. (S)
NVOI concentrated on the following themes during January
toMarch 1980:
--The threat of US imperialism to the Persian.
Gulf region in general and to the Iranian
and Afghan "revolutions" in particular.
--The defense of Soviet intentions in Afghanistan,
criticism of Iran's negative position on the
Soviet intervention, and the need for Iranian-
Afghan cooperation in battling imperialism.
--The urgency of promoting literacy and agrarian
self-sufficiency to safeguard Iran's Islamic
revolution from subversion and external
pressures.
--The importance of President Bani-Sadr's adher-
ence to the precepts of Khomeini both in
solving Iran's internal problems and in
combating imperialism. (S)
This memorandum was prepared byl Iran Task 25X1
Force. Comments and queries may be addressed to Chief.,,
Iran Task Force on
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Background
The Soviets for almost forty years have used radio as a
means of conveying their policy and propaganda to Iran.
During World War. II, the Soviets took advantage of broadcast
time alloted the Allies on Tehran Radio to play up Soviet
achievements, levy vitriolic attacks on the West, and, when
appropriate, criticize Iranian policy. Simultaneously,
Moscow Radio developed its Persian-language service to
propagandize and occasionally comment directly on internal
Iranian matters. (S)
In 1959 the Soviets bolstered their capability toward
Iran with the establishment of the clandestine National
Voice of Iran (NVOI) at Baku. Baku is an excellent radio
propogation point owing to its location on the Caspian Sea.
NVOI presents itself as a domestic station that officially
is unaffiliated with any group--although its commentaries
are pro-Moscow. There is no specific information on station
personnel. Soviet and sympathetic Iranian Azarbayjanis who
speak Persian in addition to their own Turkic tongue probably
comprise most of the broadcast staff. NVOI still may employ
Kurds fluent in Persian, but the station has discontinued
its Kurdish programming. (S)
US "Imperialism" and Soviet "Liberation"
NVOI continued to place great emphasis on Iran's "popular"
struggle with imperialism--particularly US "aggression"--in
light of increasingly strained relations with the US over
the hostage crisis. Broadcasts constantly warned that the
Pentagon and the CIA are plotting military aggression against
Iran. Although NVOI did not address the hostage issue, its
fervent anti-US posture is apparently designed to reinforce
the Iranian perception of the US as an aggressor and the
hostages as criminal tools of that aggression. (S)
Editorials declared that the Iranians' battle against
"US imperialism" is the final stage of the revolution. To
ensure success, NVOI advocated the purge of all. imperialist-
minded bureaucrats, "those disguising themselves as religious
men," and disloyal military men. Moreover, in late January
NVOI noted that "in this connection the society of Muslim
students (a partial reference to the student militants at
the US Embassy) has issued a statement demanding that a list
of all former Savakists (labeled as agents of US imperialism)
be published so that they would be identified and punished
for their crimes." (S)
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NVOI, however, was inconsistent in its appraisal of US
relations with other Persian Gulf countries. Commentaries
asserted, on the one hand, that the US is urgently negotiating
with these countries for naval staging bases against Iran
while, on the other hand, that the US is using its naval
forces merely to squeeze them for oil, adding that "justice
is with OPEC." One program was quick to point out that the
Soviet Union poses no threat to oil rich countries because
it is "more than self-sufficient." (S)
NVOI devoted equal effort to the Soviet "liberation"
Afghanistan. Commentaries argued that Iran's struggle
against an imperalist US and its sycophants--the People's
Republic of China, the UK, Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, and Oman--gives it common cause with the Afghan
people. Iran, therefore, should strengthen. its ties with
Afghanistan against the "arch devil" US. One broadcast
maintained that Afghanistan's support for and protection of
the Iranian revolution had triggered US reaction against the
new Afghan government. (S)
Several programs vehemently defended Soviet intervention
in Afghanistan as a move based on "persistent requests from
the legal government of Afghanistan." NVOI claimed that
Soviet forces had joined with the Afghan people in battling
US, British, and Chinese trained insurgents based in Pakistan
and that US and Zionist imperialism had transformed the
country's internal problems into grounds for regional aggres-
sion. Moreover, the "liberated" Afghan people clearly
approved of the "changes" effected by the Soviets in their
country. (S)
In light of these arguments, NVOI on two occasions
attacked Iranian government statements condemning the Soviet
intervention. The commentaries asserted that these irrespon-
sible statements diverted attention from the struggle against
US imperialism and that they were contrary to Khomeini's
call for national unity on this vital issue. NVOI heaped
criticism on. Iran's participation in the Islamic Foreign
Ministers Conference in late January.. The broadcast claimed
that the US and those dependent upon Washington staged the
conference, which was held in Pakistan.. Iran joined in the
condemnation of the Soviet Union, commented NVOI, only under
the pressure of imperialists in the government. (S)
Literacy and Land
NVOI played up literacy and a rejuvinated agrarian
sector as vital factors in combating outside attempts to
crush the revolution. Broadcasts repeatedly praised Khomeini's
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alleged quest for national literacy as a means of better
identifying false propaganda designed to deceive an uneducated
populace. This effort, noted NVOI, is in stark contrast to
the Shah's policies which-"purposely prevented our country's
people from becoming literate." NVOI editorials also praised
the uprising by farmers and peasants against "feudalists and
landlords." Moreover, broadcasts called for a government
purge of large landowners as well as a purge of government
officials in sympathy with rural magnates. (S)
NVOI asserted that the Shah, in collusion with the US,
deliberately destroyed the country's agrarian economy,
making Iran dependent on foreign agrarian produce. This
situation, it said, endangers the revolution, particularly
since the US has threatened economic sanctions and a naval
blockade.* The solution, concluded NVOI, is greater self-
sufficiency. Several broadcasts exhorted the Revolutionary
Council to give the landless maximum assistance. At the end
of January, a program lauded the Council's initial measures
for land distribution and urged the government to grant the
rural poor immediate financial aid., (S)
Presidency and Electorate
NVOI treated the presidency and the Iranian electoral
system in broad strokes. Several broadcasts hailed the
presidential election as a historic point of departure for
Iran. The programs, however, warned that some candidates
had attacked revolutionary forces loyal to Khomeini and that
the election campaign could not wrest attention from the
country's vital problems. One broadcast in Azarbyajani
recalled Khomeini's message urging all ethnic minorities to
vote. Following Bani-Sadr's election, NVOI emphasized that
the president's duty is to abide by the dictates of Khomeini
and press the fight against US and Zionist imperialism--an
indirect criticism of Bani-Sadr's opposition to the Soviet
presence in Afghanistan. One program, nonetheless, praised
Bani-.Sadr's alleged call for a purge of the government and
armed forces. In a brief commentary, NVOI criticized Iran's
simple majority electoral system as ignoring "the rights of
millions of toiling and oppressed Iranians." (S)
NVOI and Islamic Revolution
NVOI has couched its commentary in Islamic rhetoric.
The Shah and the US are repeatedly cast as "satan" and
"devil". Islam as used by NVOI conveniently mandates
*NVOI ignored US statements that an embargo would
exclude food and medicine.
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courses of action in line with.Soviet policy--such as a
rapprochement between Khomeini and Afghanistan's Karmal.
NVOI masks. its,_support for the Communist Tudeh Party by
lumping together so-called"progressive forces"--Communists-
and leftists--and clerical activists. Indeed, the Soviets
believe that NVOI's recommended purge of "satanic" elements
would afford the Tudeh and similar groups a broader scope of
activity. (S)
Unlike the Tudeh's more direct attacks on Iranian
government officials--Bani-Sadr in particular--NVOI conveys
its criticism without naming figures still in favor with
Khomeini. NVOI broadly casts such men as counterrevolutionaries
and, therefore, in violation of Islamic precepts. Commentaries
portray objectionable government policies as the ungodly
machinations of officials whose goal is to sabotage the
Islamic revolution and ensure the triumph of US-led imperialism.
The solution to this heresy is liquidation. (S)
NVOI presents itself as a staunch supporter of Khomeini
and Islam. The popular Iranian doctrine that Shia Islam is
a modern, revolutionary movement in the purest sense has
enabled NVOI to inject heavy doses of Marxist-style fervor
into its broadcasts. Although Shia Islam and Soviet Communism
are at opposite theological poles, the "revolutionary"
nature of current Iranian social, political, and foreign
policy probably affords NVOI's propaganda some sympathy.
(S)
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