TEHRAN – After 42 years of continuous work, the Tehran Times is proud to commemorate yet another anniversary of its founding with a clear vision for the future.

Since day one, Tehran Times has vowed to place itself at the disposal of its readers.

“The publisher and staff of Tehran Times are proud to place this first issue of this newspaper in the hands of their readers. It is not for us to pass judgement on our effort. We place ourselves at the disposal of our readers,” said the Tehran Times in its first edition, which was published on Saturday, May 5, 1979. “Its primary aim is to keep the English-speaking readers informed of all local and foreign news development through impartial, unbiased, and objective reporting,” the editorial of the Tehran Times continued.

Exactly 42 years have passed since this editorial was published. And the Tehran Times has the honor of keeping its word. Over the past 42 years, despite all the highs and lows of Iran’s modern history, the Tehran Times, with its dedicated staff, has sought to be a reliable source of news on Iran. And, thankfully, it has succeeded in doing so.

The Tehran Times now stands as one of the most reliable sources of information on Iran. Every day, Tehran Times’ capable reporters and other staff put a lot of energy into their work to provide our readership with the most accurate pieces of news on Iran. This work has been driven by the belief that the Tehran Times should step up to the plate and take the responsibility of providing a clear picture of what is happening in Iran.

Publishing newspapers has never been an easy job. It takes a lot of effort and resources to publish one. Like many other publications in the country, the Tehran Times also went through a considerable number of challenges the severity of which would have been difficult to face without a dedicated group of staff. But the Tehran Times successfully overcame all of these challenges thanks to its hardworking people.

Over the past year, these challenges have even intensified due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which really put the life of journalists across the globe in real danger.  Fortunately, the staff of the Tehran Time has been able to continue their work while observing Covid-19 health protocols such as wearing masks and observing social distancing.

Despite the difficulties arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tehran Times managed to achieve success while maintaining professionalism. It also worked hard to diversify its wide range of views on various domestic and global issues. To this end, the Tehran Times made use of its excellent status as the oldest English-language daily newspaper in Iran to reach out to officials, diplomats, experts, and analysts both at home and abroad. This paved the way for various views to get their share of the newspaper’s coverage.

The new approach has led to the newspaper being a source of, in some cases exclusive, news and in-depth analysis for a wide range of local and foreign news media outlets, think tanks, experts, and so on. The Tehran Times is committed to continuing this course of action.

With its various sections covering all aspects of Iranian society, the Tehran Times also enjoys an archive that a few other Iranian publications, whether in Persian or English, do. Publishing the newspaper was kicked off in the early, historic days of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Since then, the Tehran Times has been continuously covering almost everything related to Iran from sports to politics. This continuation has allowed it to basically record Iran’s history in English over more than four decades. No other Iranian publication possesses such a rich archive in English.

With the Tehran Times turning 42, the newspaper, however, is more looking to the future than to the past. The Tehran Times stands ready to build on its rich history and experience in covering Iran news to improve its output and provide its readership with “impartial, unbiased and objective reporting” as it vowed in its first editorial 42 years ago. In doing so, the Tehran Times pursues no other goal than being at the disposal of its readers whose attention was bestowed on it over the past four decades.