This archive report was first published on 1 July 2019.
Published on July 1, 2019, a decade-long transformation in Iran's media production has seen the Revolutionary Guards rebrand themselves as the nation's protectors.
With the rise of the Islamic State and the Syrian civil war, Iranians began to say, “Without the Sepah” — the Persian term for the guard — “in Damascus, ISIS would be in Tehran.”
The guards have reinterpreted the Islamic Republic's past, opening a vast museum in Tehran that narrates the story of the Iran-Iraq war as a triumph of Persian nationalism.
One wing of the museum features a large map of the ancient Persian Empire, showcasing the country's glorious past. As visitors progress through the exhibition, Iran's territory shrinks, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the nation's borders.
Instead of celebrating martyrs, the museum offers a narrative of nationalism, dignity, and pride. Fatemeh, a museum employee and member of the Basij, said, “We got Iran back from the hold of Western powers; we retook control of our country.”
To attract new audiences, the museum has invited artists to create exhibitions and installments, courting a more cosmopolitan crowd. The museum's park offers free access to anyone wanting to escape Tehran's growing concrete expanses.
The Revolutionary Guards have also invested heavily in music videos celebrating the Islamic Republic's armed forces as defenders of the nation's independence and dignity.
The most expensive music video ever produced in Iran, costing $385,000, tells the story of the downing of an Iran Air passenger flight by an American warship in the Persian Gulf. The video features multiethnic and multiracial Iranian men, dressed as paramilitary Basijis, marching toward the ship with the Iranian flag as their only weapon.
