In October 12, 2018, when I was browsing around on galleryinfo.ir, a major Iranian website that covers art exhibits at art galleries across the country, to find something for Tehran Times’ What’s in Tehran Art Galleries, a showcase named “Tehran Times” attracted my attention. 

It was the title of a painting exhibition by Yazdan Saadi, who had used some editions of the Tehran Times front page as a canvas to illustrate stories from Persian classical literature.

It was interesting that an artist chose our daily’s front page upon which to do his paintings, so I proposed that my colleague Mrs. Rezapoor conduct an interview with him. 

“I chose the Tehran Times because of its name and its beautiful graphic fonts” Saadi told my colleague. “It was classic and attractive, so I chose the daily out of several English dailies I came up with.”

There are so many people in our country who still do not know that there is an English daily named Tehran Times. As an artist, Saadi had seen our newspaper and his exhibition at Seyhun Gallery at least familiarized many art enthusiasts with our daily.  

Anyway, for me, as a member of the editorial board, it was interesting that an aesthete had regarded the newspaper albeit from the graphic design viewpoint.

From all its various desks, the Tehran Times has always worked as a foreign ministry to protect the interests of the country in the international arena. But frankly, to date it has received little attention from the relevant organizations and governmental establishments.

Over the past 15 years, the newspaper has worked as a press school for many beginners, who later have gone on from the daily to work for other Iranian press media that pay more to their staff. Consequently our newspaper has indirectly contributed to the press media in the country. Actually, the core of many press organizations has been formed with the journalists trained at the Tehran Times. 

In 1979, the Tehran Times was supported by the revolutionaries to be the voice of the oppressed. The daily seems to have been successful in its mission, however, generally, it has not received the proper respect it deserves. 

We should regard the new management’s decision to celebrate the Tehran Times’ 41st anniversary as a good omen for the future.

MMS/YAW