---
title: 'Iranian propaganda: Pahlavi, revolution and Islamic Republic posters, 1938 to 2020'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/iranian-propaganda/
description: 'Iranian propaganda from the Pahlavi shah to the Islamic Republic: posters, banknotes and broadcasts, plus US and Iraqi material, tagged by technique.'
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg)

Collection

# Iranian propaganda: Pahlavi, revolution and Islamic Republic posters, 1938 to 2020

Iranian propaganda from the Pahlavi shah to the Islamic Republic: posters, banknotes and broadcasts, plus US and Iraqi material, tagged by technique.

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. Iranian propaganda

[![Bank Melli Iran 500 rials (five Pahlavi) note with Reza Shah, 1317 (1938)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/bank-melli-500-rials-reza-shah-1938-640.jpg)Bank Melli Iran 500 rials (five Pahlavi) note with Reza Shah, 1317 (1938)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bank-melli-500-rials-reza-shah-1938/) [![Pishraft-e Iran wall news poster, No. 45: Shah's land grants (Farsi, Tehran)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pishraft-e-iran-wall-news-poster-45-shah-land-grants-farsi-tehran-1957-640.jpg)Pishraft-e Iran wall news poster, No. 45: Shah's land grants (Farsi, Tehran)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pishraft-e-iran-wall-news-poster-45-shah-land-grants-farsi-tehran-1957/) [![FBIS Daily Report: Tehran Domestic Service on the occupation of the U.S. Embassy (5 Nov 1979)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/fbis-tehran-embassy-seizure-1979-640.jpg)FBIS Daily Report: Tehran Domestic Service on the occupation of the U.S. Embassy (5 Nov 1979)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fbis-tehran-embassy-seizure-1979/) [!["War, war, until victory": Iranian war-affairs poster, 1980s](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/jang-jang-ta-pirouzi-war-affairs-hq-poster-1980s.jpg)"War, war, until victory": Iranian war-affairs poster, 1980s](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jang-jang-ta-pirouzi-war-affairs-hq-poster-1980s/) [!["Workers, toilers! Islam is your supporter": Jomhouri-e Eslami special issue, 1982](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/kargaran-zahmatkeshan-eslam-hami-shomast-1982-640.jpg)"Workers, toilers! Islam is your supporter": Jomhouri-e Eslami special issue, 1982](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kargaran-zahmatkeshan-eslam-hami-shomast-1982/) [![Mojrem-e Beynolmelali (International Criminal): khamenei.ir poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/khamenei-international-criminal-poster-2026-640.jpg)Mojrem-e Beynolmelali (International Criminal): khamenei.ir poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/khamenei-international-criminal-poster-2026/)

> **Content note.** One 2018 poster blames "Zionists" for the September 11 attacks and uses a Star of David cufflink to do it; a 1979 radio report calls the Shah "criminal". They are shown or quoted as issued, and the collection tags them as examples of the techniques named, not as endorsed. Showing an item is not endorsing it.

[What is Iranian propaganda?](https://propagandaarchive.org/iranian-propaganda/#what-is-iranian-propaganda) [The Pahlavi monarchy, 1938 to 1976](https://propagandaarchive.org/iranian-propaganda/#the-pahlavi-monarchy-1938-to-1976) [The United States in Iran, 1953 to 1958](https://propagandaarchive.org/iranian-propaganda/#the-united-states-in-iran-1953-to-1958) [The revolution, 1979 to 1980](https://propagandaarchive.org/iranian-propaganda/#the-revolution-1979-to-1980) [The Iran-Iraq War and the 1980s](https://propagandaarchive.org/iranian-propaganda/#the-iran-iraq-war-and-the-1980s) [The Islamic Republic after 1989](https://propagandaarchive.org/iranian-propaganda/#the-islamic-republic-after-1989)

## What is Iranian propaganda?

Iranian propaganda is persuasion issued by Iranian governments, parties, newspapers and movements, from the Pahlavi monarchy through the 1979 revolution to the Islamic Republic. The collection also holds foreign material aimed at Iran, from the United States and Iraq, and held to the same test: who issued it, when, and which technique it uses.

## The Pahlavi monarchy, 1938 to 1976

Money carried the ruler. A Bank Melli 500-rial note of 1938 prints Reza Shah's profile with the Lion and Sun emblem and ancient-Persian guardsmen ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). A Central Bank 100-rial note of 1976 pairs Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah to mark fifty years of the dynasty.

![Bank Melli Iran 500-rial note of 1938 with the profile of Reza Shah and the Lion and Sun emblem](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/bank-melli-500-rials-reza-shah-1938.jpg)

![Central Bank of Iran 100-rial note of 1976 with a double profile of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/central-bank-iran-100-rials-fifty-years-pahlavi-1976.jpg)

![General Directorate of Publications and Propaganda poster of 1965: the Shah in uniform beside a Persepolis relief](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pro-shah-nation-follows-shah-1965.jpg)

![Shooresh cartoon of 8 August 1953: a figure holds a sheet reading 155544 votes in favour while named men walk toward three gallows](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/shooresh-referendum-gallows-cartoon-1953.jpg)

Explain moreShow less

A 1965 poster from the government's General Directorate of Publications and Propaganda puts the Shah beside a Persepolis relief under a slogan of "greatness" and "honour" ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/), [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)).

Domestic politics used the press as well. The newspaper Shooresh printed a cartoon on 8 August 1953 that offers a referendum count of 155,544 votes as proof while named opponents file toward gallows ([Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/), [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)).

## The United States in Iran, 1953 to 1958

The U.S. Information Agency distributed Farsi wall sheets in Tehran. They set American aid, the U.S. ambassador and the Shah in one frame. One of 1956 shows the Shah's Soviet trip beside locomotives bought with a U.S. Export-Import Bank loan; a 1957 sheet shows the Shah handing land deeds to farmers captioned "Grateful for the Shah's bounty" next to a U.S. Navy visit. The tag in both is [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/). The collection also lists a CIA-prepared 1953 text, "Mossadeq's Spy Service", as a card-stacking example; its page has no image.

![U.S. Information Agency Farsi sheet of 22 August 1956: the Shah's Soviet trip and locomotives financed by a U.S. loan](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/iran-news-poster-52b-shah-ussr-trip-locomotives-farsi-1956.jpg)

![U.S. Information Agency Pishraft-e Iran sheet No. 45 of 7 December 1957: the Shah hands land deeds to farmers beside a U.S. Navy visit](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pishraft-e-iran-wall-news-poster-45-shah-land-grants-farsi-tehran-1957.jpg)

## The revolution, 1979 to 1980

Revolutionary posters borrowed older art. Hossein Norouzian's painting of 1979 sets Khomeini among widows and orphans in the manner of a Persian miniature, with the fallen Shah crawling at lower right ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). An anonymous 1980 poster shows the Shah kneeling before Khomeini beneath a Quranic verse about those who "disbelieved and did wrong" ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)).

![Poster by Hossein Norouzian, 1979: Khomeini holds a child among widows and orphans while a small figure in the Shah's uniform crawls at the lower right](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/khomeini-widows-orphans-fallen-shah-norouzian-1979.jpg)

![Iranian poster of 1980: the Shah in dress uniform kneels before Khomeini beneath a scroll with a Quranic verse](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/shah-kneeling-before-khomeini-quran-scroll-poster-1980.jpg)

![FBIS Daily Report of 5 November 1979: first page of the translation of Tehran Domestic Service on the seizure of the U.S. Embassy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/fbis-tehran-embassy-seizure-1979.jpg)

![Banisadr election poster of 1980 from the Hojjatieh Mosque youth association, Qaemshahr: a portrait beside Persian type](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/banisadr-election-poster-qaemshahr-1980.jpg)

Explain moreShow less

On 4 November 1979 Tehran Domestic Service relayed the embassy occupiers' statement calling the ex-shah "the criminal and deposed shah" and the embassy "the spying Embassy" (FBIS translation; [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/), [Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/)). A 1980 election poster for Abolhassan Banisadr, signed by a mosque youth association in Qaemshahr, promises "justice" without a programme ([Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)).

## The Iran-Iraq War and the 1980s

The General Office of Islamic Guidance in Isfahan issued a 1981 poster that places Rajai and Bahonar in divine palms above Statue-of-Liberty figures labelled as opposition leaders ([Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/), [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)). Jomhouri-e Eslami printed "Workers, toilers! Islam is your supporter" in 1982, and the War Affairs Headquarters poster "War, war, until victory" names a goal with no stated aim ([Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)).

![General Office of Islamic Guidance, Isfahan, 1981: portraits of Rajai and Bahonar in green palms above three Statue-of-Liberty figures](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/rajai-bahonar-divine-palms-statues-of-liberty-isfahan-1981.jpg)

![Jomhouri-e Eslami special issue of 24 September 1982: a worker carries a flag beside the line Islam is your supporter](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/kargaran-zahmatkeshan-eslam-hami-shomast-1982.jpg)

![War Affairs Headquarters, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, 1980s: fighters in Ya Mahdi headbands under War, war, until victory](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/jang-jang-ta-pirouzi-war-affairs-hq-poster-1980s.jpg)

**Content note:** Wartime leaflet pairing a devotional portrait of Imam Ali with a warning that divine wrath will pursue attacking troops. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![Iraqi armed forces notice of 1980 addressed to Iranians, with a portrait captioned as Imam Ali](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/iraq-notice-to-iranians-imam-ali-1980.jpg)

Explain moreShow less

The other side used religion too. An Iraqi armed forces notice of 1980 shows Imam Ali, presents Iraq as keeper of the shrines and tells Iranian troops to surrender ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/), [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). The collection also holds two Iranian Army leaflets to Iraqi soldiers, 1980 and 1981, without images.

## The Islamic Republic after 1989

The Office of the Supreme Leader publishes posters at khamenei.ir. One of 11 September 2018 quotes Khamenei and blames "Zionists" for the 2001 attacks with no evidence shown ([Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/)).

**Content note:** Poster attributing the 11 September 2001 attacks to 'Zionists', showing a hand with a Star of David cufflink pointing at the burning Twin Towers This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![khamenei.ir poster of 11 September 2018: a hand with a Star of David cufflink points at the burning Twin Towers while a Muslim family flees](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/khamenei-zionists-nine-eleven-poster-2018.jpg)

**Content note:** Threatening message to voters (threat of harm if the recipient does not vote a demanded way) This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![Page 5 of the U.S. indictment against Kazemi and Kashian, unsealed 18 November 2021, quoting the October 2020 voter-threat email](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/iran-voter-threat-emails-indictment-2020.jpg)

Explain moreShow less

The record also covers Iranian state action abroad, documented as charged history. A U.S. indictment unsealed on 18 November 2021 quotes an October 2020 email sent to registered Democrats, purportedly from the Proud Boys, that read "You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you" ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)). The indictment attributes it to the contractor Emennet Pasargad; the defendants are accused, not convicted.

## Reading these objects

Each issuer used the same small set of techniques, whether monarchy, revolution, republic, Washington or Baghdad: borrowed prestige, virtue words, named enemies. Scale, intent and means differ, and each entry says so.

## Iranian propaganda in the collection

Showing 21 of 21 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/).

- [Bank Melli Iran 500 rials (five Pahlavi) note with Reza Shah, 1317 (1938)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bank-melli-500-rials-reza-shah-1938/) (Iran · Mar 1938 · Transfer)
- ['Mossadeq's Spy Service' (CIA-prepared propaganda text, Iran, 1953)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cia-mossadeq-spy-service-1953/) (United States · 1953 · Card stacking, Name-calling, Ad hominem)
- [Shooresh cartoon on the 1953 dissolution referendum: "155544 votes in favour" and opponents before gallows](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/shooresh-referendum-gallows-cartoon-1953/) (Iran · Aug 8, 1953 · Bandwagon, Name-calling). Content note: Newspaper cartoon showing named political opponents filing toward gallows with nooses hanging.
- [Iran News poster 52b, Shah's USSR trip, locomotives (Farsi, distributed in Tehran)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/iran-news-poster-52b-shah-ussr-trip-locomotives-farsi-1956/) (United States · Aug 22, 1956 · Transfer)
- [Pishraft-e Iran wall news poster, No. 45: Shah's land grants (Farsi, Tehran)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pishraft-e-iran-wall-news-poster-45-shah-land-grants-farsi-tehran-1957/) (United States · Dec 7, 1957 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Melati bedonbal-e shah-e khod (A Nation Following Its Shah): Pahlavi government poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pro-shah-nation-follows-shah-1965/) (Iran · 1965 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Central Bank of Iran 100 rials note, 50th anniversary of the Pahlavi monarchy, 1355 (1976)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/central-bank-iran-100-rials-fifty-years-pahlavi-1976/) (Iran · 1976 · Transfer)
- [Khomeini among widows and orphans, with the fallen Shah at his feet: poster signed Norouzian, May 1979](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/khomeini-widows-orphans-fallen-shah-norouzian-1979/) (Iran · May 9, 1979 · Transfer). Content note: Painted poster showing the deposed Shah crawling among spent bullet casings at the feet of Ayatollah Khomeini.
- [FBIS Daily Report: Tehran Domestic Service on the occupation of the U.S. Embassy (5 Nov 1979)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fbis-tehran-embassy-seizure-1979/) (Iran · Nov 5, 1979 · Name-calling, Scapegoating). Content note: State-radio report of the 1979 US embassy seizure, repeating the occupiers' labels for the US and the ex-shah ('world domineering', 'spying Embassy', 'criminal'), and naming Israel and 'Zionism' as enemies.
- [Banisadr presidential election poster ("We vote for Seyyed Abolhassan Banisadr"), Qaemshahr Islamic Youth Association](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/banisadr-election-poster-qaemshahr-1980/) (Iran · 1980 · Glittering generalities)
- [Ayyuha al-jaysh al-'iraqi al-sharif (O honourable Iraqi army): Iranian Army leaflet on Saddam's 'film'](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/iran-army-leaflet-saddam-pow-film-iraqi-army-1980/) (Iran · 1980 · Name-calling, Euphemism / doublespeak). Content note: Wartime leaflet that calls Saddam Hussein a criminal, agent and charlatan, in Arabic.
- [Payam: Ay Iraniyan (Message: O Iranians): Iraqi armed forces notice with image of Imam Ali](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/iraq-notice-to-iranians-imam-ali-1980/) (Iraq · 1980 · Fear appeal, Transfer)
- ["War, war, until victory": Iranian war-affairs poster, 1980s](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jang-jang-ta-pirouzi-war-affairs-hq-poster-1980s/) (Iran · 1980 · Glittering generalities, Transfer)
- [The Shah kneeling before Khomeini beneath a Quranic scroll: Iranian poster, 1980](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/shah-kneeling-before-khomeini-quran-scroll-poster-1980/) (Iran · 1980 · Name-calling, Transfer). Content note: Poster that shows the deposed Shah kneeling and abased before Khomeini under a Quranic verse of condemnation.
- [Ya abna' al-jaysh al-'iraqi (O Sons of the Iraqi Army): Iranian Army leaflet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/iran-army-leaflet-to-iraqi-army-1981/) (Iran · 1981 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Rajai and Bahonar in divine palms above Statue-of-Liberty figures: Isfahan Islamic Guidance poster, 1981](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/rajai-bahonar-divine-palms-statues-of-liberty-isfahan-1981/) (Iran · 1981 · Transfer, Testimonial, Name-calling). Content note: Poster that shows two assassinated officials in flames and pictures the faces of named opponents under Statue of Liberty crowns.
- ["Workers, toilers! Islam is your supporter": Jomhouri-e Eslami special issue, 1982](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kargaran-zahmatkeshan-eslam-hami-shomast-1982/) (Iran · Sep 24, 1982 · Glittering generalities, Transfer)
- [Pelak poster: Sardar Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, 'Martyr of Iran's Power' (khamenei.ir)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/khamenei-tehrani-moghaddam-pelak-poster-2016/) (Iran · Nov 9, 2016 · Glittering generalities, Transfer)
- ['The trace of the Zionists in the Incident of Nine-eleven' khamenei.ir poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/khamenei-zionists-nine-eleven-poster-2018/) (Iran · Sep 11, 2018 · Scapegoating, Testimonial)
- ['You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you' (Iranian 'Voter Threat Emails', DOJ indictment page)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/iran-voter-threat-emails-indictment-2020/) (Iran · Oct 2020 · Fear appeal)
- [Mojrem-e Beynolmelali (International Criminal): khamenei.ir poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/khamenei-international-criminal-poster-2026/) (Iran · Jan 17, 2026 · Name-calling, Transfer)