188. Memorandum From the Director of the International Communication Agency (Reinhardt) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)1

SUBJECT

  • VOA Persian Broadcasts

Since the curtailment of other direct channels of communication with the Iranian public has increased the importance of VOA Persian-language broadcasts during the present crisis, I thought you might like to know specifically what we have been broadcasting.

Our broadcasts currently consist of one-half hour per day, 10 to 10:30 p.m. Tehran time (1:30 to 2 p.m. EST). The first ten to twelve minutes of each program is devoted to the news, which is similar to the news broadcast in English and other languages but includes items thought to be of particular interest to Iranian listeners. (Monday,2 for example, even though we went off the air at 1:59 p.m. and the President’s announcement of the Iranian oil embargo3 wasn’t made until 2:01 p.m., we were able to get into the final minutes of our program the information the President was about to convey.)

Following the news we have had a backgrounder on “Iran and Diplomatic Immunity” (November 8), a correspondent’s report on “The U.S., the USSR and Iran” (November 10), and a feature entitled “Attack on the American Embassy” reflecting U.S. press treatment (November 5). We have also been able to obtain and broadcast a number of interviews with leading Muslims discussing U.S.-Iranian relations and their unfavorable reaction to the taking of hostages (November 12 and 13).

The remainder of our half-hour program has dealt with other topics of interest to the audience, such as “The Russians in Afghanistan” (a [Page 568] series of three programs based on Christian Science Monitor reporting); the Kampuchean relief effort;4 and Mrs. Carter in Thailand.5

In our output we have emphasized three general themes: American concern for the safety of the hostages; the Administration’s efforts to alleviate the situation; and international support for the tenets of international law and behavior toward members of diplomatic missions.

VOA’s English-language broadcasts to the area—which, we understand, also are being listened to widely—have similarly concentrated on the Iran crisis with news analyses, a commentary and U.S. opinion roundups. The President’s statement Monday was carried live as an interruption of our news broadcasts to the Middle East.

We do not know precisely how many people and who in Iran are listening to VOA Persian or English. Before the current crisis we received numerous reports of listenership, including in the government and the press, the latter frequently replaying in the media what VOA had broadcast. At the present time there seems to be some evidence that the students and others are listening to VOA by the speed with which they react to what is said and done in Washington and elsewhere—information that they can only be getting so quickly by Western radio—VOA and BBC.

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Agency File, Box 10, International Communication Agency: 9–12/79. No classification marking. On November 4, the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was seized and Americans were taken hostage.
  2. November 12.
  3. On November 12, the President spoke to reporters in the Briefing Room at the White House and stated: “It is necessary to eliminate any suggestion that economic pressures can weaken our stand on basic issues of principle. Our position must be clear. I am ordering that we discontinue purchasing of any oil from Iran for delivery to this country.” (Public Papers: Carter, 1979, Book II, p. 2109)
  4. The Vietnamese invasion of Kampuchea (Cambodia) in December 1978 decimated most of the rice crop, thus jeopardizing an already tenuous food supply. During 1979, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) began coordinating a large-scale humanitarian assistance program for Kampuchea on behalf of the United Nations and other concerned governments.
  5. Reference is to the First Lady’s trip to Thailand, in early November, to observe famine conditions related to the influx of refugees from Kampuchea. Documentation on the trip is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, vol. XXII, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.