“Death to America" Competition

The following piece was written by an Iranian citizen journalist on the ground inside the country, who writes under a pseudonym to protect his identity.

Anti-American posters in Tehran are as old as the Islamic Revolution itself but with new billboard designs popping up and the country’s second “Death to America festival” fast approaching, new life has been pumped into the anti-America campaign across Iran.

Anti-American graffiti and paintings, which go back to the early years of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, are sponsored by various pro-regime agencies such as the Revolutionary Guards, the Organization for Islamic Propaganda and the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance. Every few years, when the murals and paintings begin to fade, a budget is set aside so they can be renovated.

But anti-American propaganda does not stop at street paintings. During religious festivities, such as the anniversary of the Islamic revolution on February 11 or Ghods (Jerusalem) Day, people taking part carry posters and puppets denoting anti-American themes and slogans. American and Israeli flags are also burned as part of ceremony celebrations, with the British Union Jack sometimes-falling victim to the tradition as well. Flags are also painted on the ground so participants can tread on them.

The start of direct nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US following on from President Rouhani being elected, particularly the meetings held between the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry, those opposed to reducing tensions between Iran and the US are coming up with new ideas every day to promote the Anti-America campaign.

Some of the most eye-catching propaganda was unveiled in the October of last year when large billboards across Tehran featured the words “Honesty, American-Style” with two men facing each other across a desk with an American flag on one side and an Iranian on the other. Altogether there were nine versions of the billboard, all of which referred to renewed contact between the countries. In one of the billboards, the man representing the US diplomat held a gun under the table and wore military uniform from the waist down. In another, the American official had a ferocious-looking dog at its side that looked ready to attack.

However a day after the posters went up, a website owned by a state-run newspaper called the Iran Network, questioned the sincerity of the campaign. “This new aggressive campaign is aimed at the policies of the new administration rather than being about what the billboards say.”

The site identified the Ouj Artistic Media Organization, a body that claims to be independent, as being behind the campaign. The organization also sponsored a documentary that asserted it was revealing the truth about the US chemical weapons stockpile. Beginning its activities in summer 2011, Ouj outlined its mission as “creating a context for identifying, training and directing talented revolutionary forces in various artistic and media fields and also make it possible to produce and distribute products in line with the Islamic Revolution.”

The festival gets ready

As part of the campaign, Ouj also launched the “Death to America Grand Award” festival, sponsored by themselves and other similar organizations. The festival took place for the first time last year and gave away considerable cash prizes to its contestants. Now that the Vienna nuclear talks have ended inconclusively, the second festival is in the pipeline and billboards have gone up across the city to promote it.

According to reports, its sponsors also include Hezbollah Cyber, Saraj Cyberspace Organization, Tasnim news agency, Fars news agency and Nasr TV Network—all of which are affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards.

Winning contestants at the festival last year were awarded their prizes by the likes of Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, a commander in the Revolutionary Guards, and Hossein Shariatmadari, the managing editor of the hardliner daily Kayhan, the day before the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

According to Mohammad Hasani, the festival secretary, the event will start on December 7 and people taking part must incorporate themes such as, “Why death to America?” “America and Human rights” “America and Islamophobia” “America in the Embrace of World Zionism” “America and Nurturing Terrorism” and many more, into their artwork.

According to festival organizers, the “Death to America” Grand Prize will have a main competition for pictures, posters and cartoons and a side competition for documentaries, video clips, songs, articles, blogs, software and mobile apps. The winning prize in the main competition is $3,700, with a runner-up prize of $1,800 and a third prize of $750. While in the smaller competition, the first prize is $1,100, the second prize is $550 and the third prize is $260.

The festival’s finale will take place on February 11, 2015 on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Milad Bagheri, Citizen-Journalist, Tehran