Radio Farda

Radio Farda is the Iranian branch of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) external broadcast service. It broadcasts 24 hours a day in the Persian language from its headquarters in the district Hagibor of Prague, Czech Republic, "Hagibor" (the Hebrew word for the hero) is an area in Prague, the district and of Prague 10. It bears the name of a former local Jewish sport club ŽSK Hagibor.

Radio Farda first aired December 2002. Radio Farda broadcasts political, cultural, social, and art news with an emphasis on Iran. The name "Farda" means "tomorrow" in Persian. Radio Farda's broadcasts have been continually blocked by Iranian authorities over the history of its programming.

Launched in December 2002 as the successor to RFE/RL's Persian Service, Radio Farda provides objective and accurate news and information to counter state censorship and ideology-based media coverage. Radio Farda's new website was launched in 2006 and receives over 3 million page views every month.

Jay Solomon of the Wall Street Journal published a feature story on the challenges Radio Farda faces from an increasingly repressive Iranian regime as well as those in Washington who seek a tougher line on Iran. A few challenges he highlights are Radio Farda journalists being unjustly convicted of crimes against the state, and millions of dollars spent on jamming Radio Farda broadcasts. He also goes into detail about the fine line Radio Farda must walk to present itself as objective and accurate news source to its audience even though it is congressionally funded through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

An Iranian-American journalist working for Radio Farda, Parnaz Azima, was banned from leaving Iran after her trip to the country. She had entered Iran to visit her ailing mother. She was jailed in May 2007 and released in August. Her passport was returned to her on a 550,000 U.S. Dollar bail.