DĀD (3)

 

DĀD (lit., “justice”), a Tehran afternoon newspaper issued daily from 20 Mehr 1321 Š./12 October 1942 to 27 Farvardīn 1340 Š./16 April 1961, with four brief interruptions when it was banned. The publisher and managing editor was Abu’l-Ḥasan ʿAmīdī Nūrī (1323-1401 = 1360 Š./1905-81), a lawyer and representative for Māzandarān in the Majles. The first editor-in-chief was Moṣṭafā Alamūtī, an economist and deputy in the Majles, representing Rūdbār and Alamūt; he was also publisher of the newspaper Ṣobḥ-e emrūz. After Alamūtī’s resignation in 1333 Š./1954, Moḥammad-ʿAlī Kord became editor-in-chief.

Dād was one of the most important daily newspapers in Tehran, especially before the coup d’etat of 1332 Š./1953. It was conservative in orientation but supported the nationalists on some issues. In 1322 Š./1943 it was banned because of editorial criticism directed at the regime of Reżā Shah (1304-20 Š./1925-­41). It was twice suspended in 1324 Š./1945 because of attacks on the government; it was replaced by Parvareš, which began publication in August 1945, and Nowrūz-e Īrān, which began publication in De­cember of the same year.

In the summer of 1326 Š./1947 ʿAmīdī Nūrī resigned from the central committee of the ruling Ḥezb-e demokrāt-e Īrān (Democratic party of Iran) in protest against the inclusion of five Tudeh party members in the cabinet (see communism ii), and criticism of the policies of Prime Minister Aḥmad Qawām (Qawām­-al-Salṭana) began to appear in Dād. As a result, the newspaper’s printing plant was burned on 6 Tīr/26 June. On the following day the editor published an account of the event, including a violent attack on Qawām’s government and character. The prime minister ordered the paper closed, and both ʿAmīdī Nūrī and Alamūtī were forced to go into hiding to escape arrest.

Dād initially supported the National front and its leader, Dr. Moḥammad Moṣaddeq, but soon shifted to the opposition. It published outspoken criticism of Moṣaddeq’s government (Moṣaddeq, p. 369; tr., p. 456) and was one of the newspapers that accepted advertisements from the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (Rāʾīn, p. 285). Dād and its publisher were among the earliest supporters of General Fażl-Allāh Zāhedī, and after the fall of Moṣaddeq in 1332 Š./1953 ʿAmīdī Nūrī became deputy prime minister in Zāhedī’s government. He was executed after the Revolution of 1357 Š./1978.

The most important feature in Dād was the column called “Yāddāšt-e rūz” (Notes of the day), which always dealt with national politics. Also popular were the columns “Jarayānāt-e rūz” (Events of the day) and “Pošt-e parda-ye sīāsat” (Behind the veil of politics). Dād carried some news photographs and a consider­able amount of advertising. It consisted of four pages (occasionally more) measuring 32 x 52 cm, each with six columns, and was printed in its own plant. The price was initially 1 rial, but by the time it ceased publication it had risen to 2 rials.

Runs of Dād can be found in the major libraries of Persia, the Princeton University library (Princeton, N.J.), and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

 

Bibliography:

M. Alamūtī, Īrān dar ʿaṣr-e Pahlavī IV, London, 1368 Š./1989, pp. 36-534.

L. P. Elwell­-Sutton, “The Iranian Press, 1941-47,” Iran 6, 1968, pp. 71, 82, 85, 101.

[Gorūh-e Jāmī], Goḏašta čerāḡ-e rāh-e āyanda ast, 4th ed., Tehran, 1362 Š./1983, pp. 68-69, 111-12, 191.

R. Mach and R. D. McChesney, A List of Persian Serials in the Princeton University Library, Princeton, N.J., 1971 (unpublished).

M. Moṣaddeq, Ḵāṭerāt wa taʾallomāt-e Moṣaddeq, ed. Ī. Afšār, Tehran, 1365 Š./1986; tr. H. Katouzian as Muṣaddiq’s Memoirs, London, 1988.

I. V. Pourhadi, Persian and Afghan Newspapers in the Library of Congress, 1871-1978, Washington, D.C., 1979, pp. 14-15.

E. Pūr-Qūčānī, Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā-ye mawjūd dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazī-e Āstān-e qods-e rażawī, Mašhad, 1364 Š./1985, pp. 150-51.

E. Rāʾīn, Asrār-e ḵāna-ye sedān, Tehran, 1358 Š./1979.

W. Ṣādeqī-nasab, Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā-ye fārsī-e sāl-e 1320-1332-e šamsī, Tehran, 1360 Š./1981, p. 79.

B. Sartīpzāda and K. Ḵodāparast, Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā-ye mawjūd dar Ketāb-ḵāna­ ye mellī-e Īrān, Tehran, 1356 Š./1977, p. 97.

G. Šokrī, Fehrest-e rūz-nāma-hā wa majallahā-ye fārsī dar Moʾassasa-ye āsīāʾī [Shiraz], FIZ, 1366 Š./1987, pp. 365-66.

(Nassereddin Parvin)

Originally Published: December 15, 1993

Last Updated: November 10, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. VI, Fasc. 5, pp. 545-546