# "archives.ir". Linked Archives in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Access Restrictions to Records: An Archival Science Outlook

Natalia Pashkeeva

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

## To cite this version:

Natalia Pashkeeva. "archives.ir". Linked Archives in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Access Restrictions to Records: An Archival Science Outlook. The International Workshop on Linked Archives 2021, Sep 2021, Online (Organizing Committee: Portugal, Italy), France. pp.64-78. hal-05216009

HAL Id: hal-05216009

https://hal.science/hal-05216009v1

Submitted on 20 Aug 2025

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>
"archives.ir". Linked Archives in the Islamic Republic of
Iran and Access Restrictions to Records: An Archival
Science Outlook*

Natalia Pashkeeva¹[0000-0002-7781-2889]

¹ ERC OFF-SITE, CNRS IRIS (UMR8156 - U997). Paris, France

natalie.pashkeeva@gmail.com

**Abstract.** This paper presents some preliminary findings of a study on the online databases developed since the 2010s by the heritage and research institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the aim of making publicly available an extensive number of digital surrogates of archival records.

**Keywords:** Iran, access restrictions to archives, digital technology, control of knowledge, official history.

# 1 Introduction

Does a forty-year time frame represent an appropriate length of time for State and society to come to terms with the trauma of violence which involved a radical change in political and ideological structures? More than forty years after the Iranian Revolution (1979), the regime that came to power in the country is still alive, and so are the memories of the post-revolutionary massacres [1]. Multiple actors inside and outside of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) are involved today in the competing interpretations of a contested past, bound up with conflicts of collective memories and individual experiences of “victors” and “vanquished”. The state-sanctioned denial, approval and justification of violence are confronted with calls for awareness on the reality of oppression and for a lasting change of the political culture based on cruelty and physical elimination of suspects and real opponents.

Archival records are the fundamental issue in these claims to establish the “truth”. The original archives are not easily accessible in the IRI. Documents regarding the revolutionary replacement of the Pahlavi rule with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini coherently fall under the category of “confidential” because they contain “government secrets”. This is all the more important since significant “archival data” were made publicly available by the heritage and research institutions of the IRI in the last decade. This unprecedented mobilization of the past provides insight into the Iranian history and international relations in the 20th century. Based on an extensive number of digital surrogates of archival records and oral history sources, the ever-growing online databases form a network providing immense volumes of

<footnote>* Copyright 2021 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).</footnote>
information in open access. As part of the memorialization process, they also intend
to provide authoritative knowledge of the past and serve as a tool to assert the politi-
cal legacy of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Sometimes, this digital material is used as
historical source by Iranian and International scholars working on Iran, often without
critical assessment of the conditions of creation of the original archival records and
distribution of their digital surrogates. However, the question is how to ensure a quali-
ty control on this historical data in terms of trustworthiness.

Recently, a nuanced body of critical works on archives in the Middle East has dis-
cussed the actors, documentation practices, and archiving initiatives in relation to the
construction of identities, political powers, States and their ideological foundations
[2]. However, a historical perspective on archives in Iran remains outside the scope of
the critical debate, particularly with regard to access and dissemination practices en-
gendered by modern digital technologies [3]. Yet, this is a crucial issue. The online
release of archives in the IRI, considered in relation to the problem of openness of the
original archives, leads to a need for in-depth thinking on the sources available for
professional communities and civil society to participate in debates on religious, phil-
osophical, political and ideological lines, on which are based the revolutionary and
political Islam. Indeed, careful thought should be given to what and why is released
and, what is harder to find, what and why is not released

This paper presents a part of the ongoing OFF-SITE research project, conducting
an off-site ethnography of post-revolution Iran [4]. Following the conceptual para-
digm of *Agnotology* as the study of ignorance [5], and theoretical and methodological
discussions conducted by the experts on archival science [6], I examine the online
archival databases on contemporary history (târikh-e mo'asser) developed in the IRI
with regard to the issues of authenticity, integrity, traceability, and, consequently,
credibility of the archives and, more broadly, historical sources in a digital environ-
ment [7] in the so-called “post-truth” era we live in [8]. The analysis is based on 7
(seven) out of 14 (fourteen) databases identified so far. With reference to the domain
name “.ir”, the OFF-SITE project team calls this network of databases “archives.ir”.
How do these databases relate to each other and to State institutions? What are their
relation to archival theory? How transparent are the digital processing of archival
records? How and which conceptual frame of reference do they provide for the under-
standing of the past? I try to understand these issues in a historical perspective, with
regard to the foundation of the Iranian archival system since the 1950s, also referring
to studies on political, social and moral economy of the 1979 revolution [9], writing
of history in Iran [10], and control on Internet in the IRI [11].

First of all, the phenomenon of “archives.ir” has to be put in the context of access
restrictions to original archival records. Below are some reference points.

2 Restrictions on Access to Records in Iran: A Regime of
Inflexible and Unrestricted State Secrecy

In May 1970 (Ordibehesht 1349), a law inaugurated the Iran National Archives
Organization as a new tool to assist the Iranian state operating under the Pahlavi rule
in solidifying its sovereignty and political legitimacy through centralization and per-
petuation of its own documentary traces [12]. Indeed, the archives being subject to
codified law were defined as the documents in all media "prepared or received by the
government apparatus" [13]. Thus, the basic archival law in Iran asserted that only the
documents of the governmental bodies and government-affiliated agencies had to be
considered as being of national importance. It also implemented the concept of ar-
chives as a confined space to be controlled by the State. Some parallels can be drawn
with the state-centeredness of the modern European national archives: their access,
initially reserved for state administrators and jurists, was progressively broadened
over the course of the nineteenth century [14]. The 1970 Iranian archival law intro-
duced the issue of access restrictions as far too broad, implying an unduly wide lee-
way. There was only passing mention of "confidential documents" and those "harm-
ing the rights of individuals or government interests", without further definition [15].
A 40-year limit was introduced for the storage of all records in the relevant govern-
mental bodies and agencies [16]. During this period, records could be made available
only for competent legal authorities. What would happen after the expiry of the 40-
year period remained particularly unclear. The 1970 law was implying that, potential-
ly, after 40 years a special announcement of the relevant governmental body, or a
special decision of the Iran National Documents Organization's Council [17] might be
required to definitive remove access restrictions [18]. Specific circumstances, catego-
ries or thematic clusters of documents, that might permit the period of access re-
strictions to be extended, were not specified [19].

The vagueness around the issue of access restrictions in the 1970 law became the
major guiding principle for further regulations before and after the 1979 revolution.
Two acts ratified in 1975 [20] specified two categories of sensitive government doc-
uments, namely “secret” [21] and “confidential” [22]. Yet, there was still a large mar-
gin of uncertainty. The government bodies were left to decide about the degree of
sensitivity of the document, and to assess when to remove it from the “secret” or
“confidential” categories. No time limits, even approximate, were considered as if the
documents were not supposed to switch to the “historical records” category to become
publicly accountable and publicly owned. The acts retained a regime of total and
permanent secrecy.

Very quickly, the political regime established in 1979 paid particular attention to
archives. A bylaw was passed in summer 1983 (Tir 1362). Still lacking clarity and
transparency, it stated that records were not accessible to the public "at least" during
the 40-year period [23]. However, the following-up of records after the expiry of the
stipulated period remained in a state of uncertainty and unpredictability.

The current state of access to information, which leads directly to the phenomenon
of Iranian Linked Archives databases, is the Publication and Free Access to Infor-
mation Act ratified in January 2009 (Bahman 1387) [24], with some clauses clarified
by further bylaws [25]. These regulations are intended to ensure the right of access to
information in the IRI. Nevertheless, consciously or not, many provisions, concepts,
and procedures still remain unclear, undefined, and unaddressed, thus significantly
reducing their effectiveness [26]. "Historical records" as a category of public infor-
mation are not addressed in the 2009 Act. This would require further consideration.
Only a few remarks may be provided in this paper. Like the Laws on Right to Infor-
mation adopted in other countries, the Iranian 2009 Act does logically prohibit access
to several categories of information. Apart from sensitive information related to pri-
vacy protection, medical secrets, and commercial interests [27], classified government
secrets, information that can compromise public security and comfort, or prevention
and detection of crimes [28] are also listed. Yet, the 2009 Act does not mention any
mean to request a special exemption or waiver for individuals who are not "competent
authority" [29]. Nor does it make any specific provision for requirements to remove
confidential information (be it a single line or a word) from a document in order to
make it available to the public. A culture of undisputed secrecy seems to prevail, per-
haps also because the commission responsible for the application of the 2009 Act is
housed at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance [30], known for limiting ac-
cess to information.

The 2009 Act required the public and private institutions to make the non-
classified information publicly available in digital format through Internet resources
[31]. This clearly is what renewed the impetus for technological modernity at the
heritage and research institutions in the IRI, leading namely to the massive creation of
“archives.ir” I will further discuss. This digital exercise follows the pattern of the
writing of history through the publications of primary historical documents which, as
K.S. Aghaie notes, have proliferated in the post-revolutionary Islamist historiography
[32]. In fact, I would argue that the online archival databases are intended to become
today the main publicly and easily available historical source material in the IRI,
threatening to replace definitely the original archives. Indeed, the 2009 Act prohibits
forcing the disseminators of information to disclose their sources [33]. Thus, paradox-
ically enough, the Act, which promotes the publicity of information, also offers the
means to make original archives permanently inaccessible. Besides, since only the
rights of access to information of natural persons of Iranian citizenship and of Iranian
legal entities are discussed in the 2009 Act and bylaws, the non-Iranians risk facing
additional barriers to historical records kept in the Iranian repositories.

3 Creators of “archives.ir”

The institutional framework of “archives.ir” is the most visible. It is an extensive
network of private and public institutions of a different, often “mixed” nature. The
dominant activity (archive centre, library, museum, historical society, research insti-
tute or team) is always supplemented by no less important functions of, respectively,
collecting records or books, conducting oral history interviews and doing research.
The institutions being particularly active in the networked digital dissemination of
archival material were established after the 1979 Islamic revolution under the Kho-
meini years in Iran (1979-1989) [34], or after Khomeini’s death [35]. They were cre-
ated for the purpose of (re)writing the history of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century
Iran [36], in order to bring historical, political and social studies in line with ideologi-
cal frames of revolutionary and political Islam. Moreover, some of them have recov-
ered the archival holdings of pre-revolutionary institutions, or documents requisi-
tioned from the political and economic elite of the Pahlavi regime. Today, these insti-
tutions refer to each other and form a powerful network, which falls under the authori-
ty of the High Council of the Cultural Revolution, formed in 1984 in continuation of
the Cultural Revolution (1980-1983) [37].

While the institutional settings for the implementation of “archives.ir” are clear, it
is very difficult to identify the individuals who manage information content. The Ira-
nian Linked Archives stand out as an impersonal corporate structure, without any
personified authorities, and very little or no indication on the division of labor and
individual accountabilities. Some databases do not mention the people in charge for
their conception, for the selection of archival records digitized and put online, for the
organization of digital surrogates, and for the creation of contextual metadata infor-
mation [38]. Others provide haphazardly the names of those responsible for the con-
tent of specific sections [39]. It appears that different people are involved in the man-
agement of digital content. However, no details are provided about the places of em-
ployment, duties or functions of the individuals mentioned. The search for additional
information online, through social networks or other resources about the institution
concerned, is laborious and does not always help.

Finally, the Iranian Linked Archives network does not seem to include the users.
Spaces for public participation are regularly provided in template forms available at
the bottom of the Web pages with digital surrogates [40]. However, no trace of inter-
active communication with wide audience is displayed.

The “digital documentary ecosystem” [41], maintained by the heritage and re-
search institutions of the IRI, also raises concerns regarding the quality or, more aptly
put, trustworthiness of the raw research data that is made available online.

4 Neither Traced nor Traceable: Random Pieces of the Past
with Lost Contextual Identity

The goal of the online disclosure of archival material is ambiguously formulated.
The institutions responsible for the databases refer to the “dissemination of historical
sources” in order to create a “favourable environment for research” [42]. Some men-
tion however information warfare [43]. The vocabulary of war used in this case to
define the writing of history and the digital dissemination of archival documents
clearly indicates its use as a political and ideological weapon. It takes place within a
stronger strategic framework outlined in 2012 by a senior Iranian Islamic Revolution-
ary Guard Corps official, stating that a war in cyberspace was more dangerous than a
physical war [44]. The “archives.ir” bring together an enormous mass of heterogene-
ous materials in the form of digitized copies and born digital transcripts: personal and
official correspondence, financial documentation, memorandums on political gather-
ings, inventories of property, obituaries, personal daily notes, photos, declarations, old
maps, press clippings, etc. This diversity is remarkable, but raises concerns, since, as
was pointed out, the notion of “bringing together” offers a number of possibilities
[45]. Several key observations are to be made.
Following the line that transparency is a way to allow objectivity in the disordered digital environment [46], the first thing to note is the almost total absence of any methodological statement underpinning the online release of digital surrogates. Multiple transitory decisions and discussions on the criteria used to select archival records and to group their digital surrogates online tend to be a “black box” lacking openness of process. Digital surrogates may be accessed through thematic collections focused on individual, event, custom or issue [47], or groups formed upon random association of documents [48]. Photographs often form groups separated from textual archival records [49]. Metadata associated with a group of digital surrogates or a single digital surrogate provides no information on what might be called the original “contextual identity” [50] of the archival holdings as a whole and of the records from which the digital content originated [51]. No contextual elements allow tracing the pathways and functions of the records in the work of administrations and officials at the time of their creation. A highly variable and confusing mixture of public and private areas, and of social, economic and political fields in digital collections is alarming. One collection can be made of digital surrogates dealing with a broad chronological span, and addressing issues from the fields of politics, public education, health, taxes, popular uprisings, trade or prisons. It can include correspondence from people being in different occupations or from different societal groupings [52]. This suggests that digital curators do not see a problem in generating the content of one collection from the records deriving from the activities of different bodies or individuals, thus violating and distorting the evidential value inherent in the organic interrelationships that originally existed between records, human agents, their activities and the functions they were holding while creating records [53].

Thus, the conceptual model implemented in “archives.ir” is based on the idea of archival record as an isolated, decontextualized item, in which only text content is taken as evidence, without any consideration of the associated contexts to provide insight into the processes, purposes, and activities that led to the creation of records [54]. Such a content-based approach does not allow any latitude in interpretation when one seeks to use digital surrogates as historical sources. Neither may one produce any causality analysis, nor is it possible to guarantee the integrity and reliability of the information contained in digital surrogates. Moreover, digitized copies become integrated in a strong conceptual basis. Some ideas are briefly articulated below.

## 5 “archives.ir”: Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Contemporary History

Some contributors to the Iranian archival databases criticize an “emotional attitude” to the history which, being “devoid of logical thinking”, tends to produce an “imaginative storytelling” [55]. Bringing to the forefront digitized copies of archival material, they claim to produce an impartial, “evidence-based” data about the past. Yet, a closer look reveals quite clearly a strong conceptual frame built upon the following thematic lines: 1. The Shi’i ulama as the leading revolutionary and political force, and the only one which better reflects (and therefore protects) Iran’s “national
character". 2. The foreign, especially Western evil influences competing for domina-
tion at Iran and aimed at destroying its culture. 3. The pre-revolutionary corrupt eco-
nomic and political elite, especially that of the Pahlavi dynasty, supporting foreign
evil influences because of money and privileges, and repressing the "Iranian people"
which is an undifferentiated and undefined category, subliminally associated to those
who were "powerless", "oppressed" and "impoverished" by the monarchic rule.
These themes are in line with "conspiratorial modes of reasoning", to use Houchang
Chehabi's expression [56], and fit in with the ideas about the past emerged after 1979
under the influence of new ideological references established by Ayatollah Khomeini
and his clerical followers, namely the concept of *velayat-e faqih* [57]. A nuanced
analysis is required. These major themes are interlinked and completing each other.
They are introduced, for example, through the massive posting online of a certain type
of records, namely financial documentation and lists of properties and jewelry of the
Pahlavi dynasty [58]; or through highlighting a particular social group, namely Shia
clergy which is often discussed in relation to the Shah's repressions and protest
movement before 1979 [59]; or else through the powerful visual images transmitting
signals about the individuals concerned [60]. Additional "born digital" information
(brief introductory notices, analytical articles, transcripts of testimonies and inter-
views) strengthens the baseline for understanding digital copies of archival material.
It "helps" to categorize individuals through honorary titles ("great", "pious scholar",
"servant", "popular", "martyr", "great life") or through remarks diminishing their
value. While little digital copies relate to the 1980s, the 1979 revolution is extremely
present. In fact, this is a major methodological problem. The past is "analysed" retro-
actively through the revolution as the culminating point and the logical outcome, thus
simplifying and streamlining complex processes, people's motivations, and eliminat-
ing those who do not fit with this representation models.

6 Conclusion

Lacking transparency and openness of process, the online archival databases main-
tained by the heritage and research institutions of the IRI remain a subjective exercise.
Contexts in which the original records were created, their primary functions and evo-
lution of their life cycle are not documented and left unconsidered. The role of human
agents in assembling digital surrogates together emerges as the major determinant of
the categories on which the digital collections are created. This suggests selectivity,
which involves privileging of some issues and interpretations over others. Indeed, the
border line between "interpreting the past" and "giving public access to records" turns
out to be very hazy. Archival documents are removed from repositories and brought
together in a digital "controllable" mass. They are replaced in a new, intellectually
created environment, where the interpretations of the past are constructed through the
emotional and imaginative appeal of associated preconceived ideas and images. "ar-
chives.ir" produce a commemorative or accusatory mythology, which relies on the
ideological references of today and extremely simplifies causalities and processes of
the past.
References

1. Makaremi, C.: Violence d'État et politiques du déni en Iran. Les tracés du pouvoir. Monde commun: Des antropologues dans la cité 1 (1). Violence partout, justice nulle part!, 55-74 (2018). Ebrahim Raisi and his loss of the 2017 presidential election, discussed in this paper, was Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutor of several Iranian cities, including Tehran, in the 1980s. In this capacity, he was overseeing the execution of political dissidents. He was elected president of I.R. Iran in June 2021.

2. Jungen, C., Sfeir, J. (dir.): Archiver au Moyen-Orient. Fabriques documentaires contemporaines. 1st ed. Éditions Karthala, Paris (2019). Bsheer, R.: Archive Wars. The Politics of History in Saudi Arabia. 1st ed. Stanford University Press, Stanford (2020). Dakhli, L. (dir.): L'Esprit de la révolte. Archives et actualité des révolutions arabes. 1st ed. Seuil, Paris (2020).

3. The following journals, hosted by the National Library and Archives of the IRI, are the main platforms in which peculiar issues of the management and of the use of archives in research are discussed: Faslnâme-ye Ârchiv-e Melli [National Archives Quarterly], ed. since 2015, http://www.nlai.ir/archives-quarterly, last accessed 2021/06/22. Faslnâme-ye Ganjine-ye Asnâd [Treasure of Documents Quarterly], ed. since 1991, http://ganjineh.nlai.ir/, last accessed 2021/06/22. With regard to archival science, the authors of the articles published in these journals take a very hands-on approach. They develop an intense interest in digital information technology, emphasizing namely its usefulness for the preservation and communication purposes. The challenges that the digital technology pose regarding the theoretical and philosophical approaches of archival science, namely concerns for evidence as associated contexts providing insight into the processes, activities, and events that led to the records' creation are poorly considered. The archival and librarian fields do not seem to be clearly distinguished. Regarding the use of archives in research, these journals are in line with the official writing of history discussed shortly further in this paper.

Interesting critical assessments on the use of and access to archives are occasionally provided by scholars studying specific subjects and having concrete field experiences. Some examples: Cronin, S.: Writing the History of Modern Iran: A Comment on Approaches and Sources. Iran 36, 175-184 (1998). DOI: 10.2307/4299983. Mahendrarajah, S.: Archival Research in Iran and Afghanistan. MELA Notes 89, 22-28 (2016).

4. The OFF-SITE research project, launched by the anthropologist Chowra Makaremi and funded by the European Research Council, is conducted by an interdisciplinary team hosted at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris, France. OFF-SITE general presentation, https://offsite.hypotheses.org/, last accessed 2021/06/17. Some research findings, namely a chronology of the post-revolutionary decade in Iran, and an investigation of sources regarding this period with a critical assessment of actors involved in their creation, collection, processing, and dissemination, will be presented in a database we are currently creating.

5. Proctor, R.N., Schiebinger, L. (eds.): Agnotology. The Making and Unmaking of Ignorance. 1st ed. Stanford University Press, Stanford (2008).

6. Based on the understanding that the creation of digital surrogates from archival sources is fundamentally a complex process of representation, we refer to the deliberations on the principles of provenance and original order, organic nature of records, and archival fonds as conceptual entity versus archival collection as physical unity, conducted by the archivists Michelle Casewell, Paul Conway, Terry Cook, Luciana Duranti, Anne Gilliland-Swetland, Elio Lodolini, Tom Nesmith, Geoffrey Yeo and others.
7. In this regard, there are helpful critical assessments of the “document” and “information” as evidence in the digital environment, conducted by the analysts working in the field of computerised communications networks and documentary computer science, such as Bru-no Bachimont, Camille Paloque-Berges, Joshua Sternfeld, David Weinberger, and others.

8. Oxford Languages. Word of the Year 2016, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016, last accessed 2021/06/28.

9. An extensive literature is devoted to the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Here are only some references: Abrahamian, E.: Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic. 1st ed. I.B. Tauris, London; University of California Press, Berkeley (1993). Abrahamian, E.: Tortured confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran. 1st ed. University of California Press, Berkeley (1999). Arjomand, S.A.: The Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran. 1st ed. Oxford University Press, New-York (1989). Khosrokhavar, F.: Anthropologie de la révolution iranienne: Le rêve impossible. 1st ed. Harmattan, Paris (1997).

10. Atabaki, T. (ed.): Iran in the 20th century: Historiography and Political Culture. 1st ed. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, Iran Heritage Foundation, London, New York (2009).

11. Here are some references: Berman, I.: Iranian Devolution: Tehran Fights the Digital Future. World Affairs 178 (3), 51-57 (2015). Sulmeyer, M.: Cyberspace: A Growing Domain for Iranian Disruption. In: Hicks, K.H., Dalton, M.G. (eds.): Deterring Iran after the Nuclear Deal (CSIS Reports), pp. 34-43. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Boulder. New York, London (2017). Brooking, E.T., Kianpour, S.: Iranian Digital Influence Efforts: Guerrilla Broadcasting for the Twenty-First Century. Atlantic Council, Washington, DC (2020).

12. The Law on the establishment of the Iran National Documents Organization [Qânun-e Ta'asis-e Sâzmân-e Asnâd-e Melli-e Irân]. Text of the 1970 archive law, https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/96457, last accessed 2021/06/16. A photocopy of the 1970 archive law, although of law quality, was made available by the Iranian historian, Iraj Af-shar, who has actively contributed to the drafting of the law: Afshar, I.: Layehe-ye Qânuni-ye Bâygâni-ye Koll-e Keshvar [The Bill of the Documents of the Whole Country]. Faslnâme-ye Ganjine-ye Asnâd [Treasure of Documents Quarterly] 67, 113-120 (1386/2007). See a critical testimony about fifteen years of the preparatory work carried out by the Iranian state officials, intellectuals, and foreign experts in order to create the Iran National Archives, provided by the Deputy Archivist of the United States, Herbert E. Angel, who has been actively involved in this process: Angel, H.E.: Iran as a Case Study. The American Archivist 35(2), 173-181 (1972). The following doctoral thesis in Russian language, while lacking to some extent a critical evaluation, provides a general overview of the Iranian National Archives' foundation and evolution, and is useful for reference purposes: Heder, N.G.: Istoriia formirovaniia i struktura Natsional'nogo Arkhiva Irana (1954-2012 gg.) [History of the Establishment of the National Archives of Iran and their Structure]. PhD thesis. Tajik National University, Dushanbe (2016).

13. The 1970 archive law. Article 1.

14. Berger, S.: The role of national archives in constructing national master narratives in Europe. Archival Science 13, 1-22 (2013). DOI: 10.1007/s10502-012-9188-z.

15. The 1970 archive law. Articles 5 and 6.

16. The 1970 archive law. Article 6.

17. After much debate, it was decided that the Iran National Documents Organization's Council would comprise of the following individuals: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Culture and Arts, Attorney General, Secretary General of the Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization of Iran, Prosecutor of the Audit Office, two experts in culture
and history of Iran proposed by the Ministry of Science and Education. See the 1970 archive law. Article 4.

18. The 1970 archive law. Article 6.

19. There was only one exception. However, it has not addressed the lack of clarity on a disclosure procedure to be implemented after 40 years, and provided an extra layer of secrecy. The Ministry of War has been excluded from the provisions of the 1970 archive law (Article 8). Its records should be managed at the discretion of the competent body formed by the Ministry. Thus, the law made the military records more secretive. Thus, the military secrets have been given a special place within the state secrecy issues.

20. Penal Code on disclosure and release of confidential and secret government information [Qânun-e Majâzât-e Enteshâr va Afshâye Asnâd-e Mehrmâneh va Sari-e Dolati], ratified on February 1975 (Bahman 1353). Text of Law, https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/97196, last accessed 2021/06/16. Bylaw on safeguarding secret and confidential government documents endorsed on December 1975 (Dey 1354). See an unofficial English translation in Article 19: Iran: Review of the Publication and Free Access to Information Act 2009. Legal analysis, p. 52 (2017). Text of analysis, https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-review-of-the-publication-and-free-access-to-information-act-2009-2/, last accessed 2021/06/16.

21. Whose disclosure was against the interests of the state, with two sub-levels of the unlawful disclosure that would cause irreparable damage, first, to the foundation of the government and the bedrock of the regime, and, second, to public interest and national security.

22. Whose disclosure was against special administrative interests of the government bodies, also including two sub-levels of the unlawful disclosure that would, first, disrupt the orderly functioning of the bodies, and, second, cause internal turmoil in the bodies.

23. Azizi, Q.: Âzâd-e Sâzi va Dastresi be Asnâd [Public Release and Access to Documents]. Faslnâme-ye Ârshiv-e Melli [National Archives Quarterly] 4, 6 (1394/2015).

24. [Qânun-e Enteshâr va Dastresi Âzâd be Etela'at]. Text of Law, https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/780303, last accessed 2021/06/16.

25. Namely, the bylaws adopted in July 2015 (Mordad 1394), September 2015 (Shahrivar 1394), May 2018 (Khordad 1397) and April 2020 (Farvardin 1399). Text of Bylaws, https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/937940, https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/935407, https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/1150862, https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/1528486, last accessed 2021/06/16.

Interestingly enough, the bylaw adopted in November 2014 (Azar 1393) refers to the acts regarding the secret and confidential government documents ratified by the Shah's government in 1975 (Article 1, d). See English translation of the 2014 bylaw in Article 19: Iran: Review of the Publication and Free Access to Information Act 2009. Legal analysis, pp. 44-47 (2017). Text of analysis, https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-review-of-the-publication-and-free-access-to-information-act-2009-2/, last accessed 2021/06/16.

This strongly suggests that, even if the Shah's government was expecting to make clearer the time limits regarding the removal of secrecy and confidentiality of the government documents, no regulations were made on this point before the 1979 revolution. Also, the legislation on access to documents in I.R. Iran is appeared to be a continuation of the choices made and the strategy established by the Shah's government.

26. See detailed discussion in the study cited above: Article 19: Iran: Review of the Publication and Free Access to Information Act 2009. Legal analysis (2017). Text of analysis, https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-review-of-the-publication-and-free-access-to-information-act-2009-2/, last accessed 2021/06/16.

27. The 2009 Free Access to Information Act. Articles 14 and 16.
28. The 2009 Free Access to Information Act. Articles 13 and 17.

29. According to the 2009 Act (Article 13), accessing classified information would be subject to specific laws. Though to date, there are still no bylaws regulating time limits and exceptions.

30. The 2009 Free Access to Information Act. Article 18.

31. The 2009 Free Access to Information Act. Article 5.

32. Aghaie, K.S.: Islamist Historiography in Post-Revolutionary Iran. In: Atabaki, T. (ed.): Iran in the 20th century: Historiography and Political Culture, p. 259. 1st ed. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, Iran Heritage Foundation, London, New York (2009). See also one of the first reviews of the phenomenon of publication of document collections in the IRI since the 1979 revolution: Ettehadieh (Nezam Mafi), M., Bayat, K.: The Reza Shah Period: Document Collections Recently Published in Iran. Iranian Studies 26(3/4), 419-428 (1993). DOI: 10.1080/00210869308701813.

33. The 2009 Free Access to Information Act. Article 4. Confirmed by the 2015 bylaw. Article 5.

34. Thus, the Islamic Revolution Documents Center (IRDC) was established in 1981 with the aim to write the history of Islamic Revolution and to gather documents and memoirs of the revolutionary movement. IRDC Homepage, http://www.irdc.ir/, last accessed 2021/06/16.

The Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies (IICHS) finds its origin in 1986, when the heir of the Pahlavi Foundation, the Mostazafan Foundation, created the Institute for Cultural Research and Studies with the aim to keep the documents requisitioned and used during political trials. IICHS Homepage, http://www.iichs.ir/, last accessed 2021/06/16.

The Political Studies and Research Institute (PSRI) was created in 1988 by a group of volunteers willing to “clarify dark sides” of the Iranian history. PSRI Homepage, http://ir-psri.com/, last accessed 2021/06/16.

35. The Center of Historical Documents Survey (CHDS) was established in 1993 on the basis of records inherited from the Shah's Intelligence Service, known as SAVAK, and kept by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic. CHDS Homepage, http://historydocuments.ir/, last accessed 2021/06/16.

The Islamic Revolution Information Center (IRIC) was established in 2013 by the Islamic Revolution Literature Office, created in 1993. IRIC Homepage, http://22bahman.ir, last accessed 2021/06/16.

The History Research Foundation of Iran (HRFI) started to work in 2003. HRFI Homepage, http://bonyadtarikhbook.ir, last accessed 2021/06/16.

36. Chehabi, H.E.: The Paranoid Style in Iranian Historiography. In: Atabaki, T. (ed.): Iran in the 20th century: Historiography and Political Culture, p. 165. 1st ed. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, Iran Heritage Foundation, London, New York (2009).

37. For reference see Tajmazinani, A.: From Cultural Revolution to Cultural Engineering: Cultural Policy Post-Revolutionary Iran. 1st ed. Routledge, London (2017). Fazeli, N.: Politics of Culture in Iran: Anthropology, Politics and Society in the Twentieth Century. 1st ed. Routledge, New York (2006). I thank one of my team colleagues working on Cultural Revolution in Iran for pointing out these studies.

38. Thus, the database of the CHDS, an authoritative institution responsible for the historical intelligence records, does not provide any information on the individuals involved in its administration. See example of one of the CHDS' digital collections made of randomly selected archival documents: collection of the SAVAK documents on the ideas and activities of Jalal Al-e Ahmad (1923-1969), an Iranian thinker and writer who produced a critique of
western technology and its influence in Iran, https://historydocuments.ir/?page-post&id=3379, last accessed 2021/06/27. The CHDS database provide also a big number of very large thematic collections, called "digital books". People responsible for these "books" are also rendered completely anonymous. See example: the first volume of the "digital book" dedicated to Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani (1911-1979), a senior Shi'a Islamic Scholar who had influence and became chairman of the Revolutionary Council which was de facto the Iran's ruling body after the 1979 revolution, https://historydocuments.org/sanad/?page=books_doc&id=65, last accessed 2021/06/27. Neither introduction, nor individual pages of the "book" are signed.

39. In that respect, the IICHS database provides for some sections the names of peoples selecting archival documents to be put online in digital form and, consequently, creating contextual information. See examples: http://www.iichs.ir/s/1803, http://www.iichs.ir/s/1811, http://www.iichs.ir/s/19529, last accessed 2021/06/27.

40. Thus, the CHDS database provides the number of times the Web page with digital surrogates and their born digital transcripts was viewed, but no comments from audience were published. See example, https://historydocuments.ir/?page-post&id=1755, last accessed 2021/06/27.

41. To use the Camille Paloque-Berges's term. Paloque-Berges, C.: Les sources nativement numériques pour les sciences humaines et sociales. Histoire@Politique [en ligne] 30, 231 (2016). DOI: 10.3917/HP.030.0221.

42. The IICHS statement, http://www.iichs.ir/Pages/2/Page/%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%A7/, last accessed 2021/06/20.

43. The CHDS website, while stating that the aim of the online release of archives is to facilitate access to historical sources, also quotes Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei mentioning that the world lives today the “era of soft war”. The previous sentence explains that “the enemies, thinkers and ill-wishers of the great and historical nation of Iran [...] intend to create a rift and to change the historical and cultural identity” of Iran. CHDS statement: https://historydocuments.ir/?page=about, last accessed 2021/06/20.

44. Sulmeyer, M.: Cyberspace: A Growing Domain for Iranian Disruption. In: Hicks, K.H., Dalton, M.G. (eds.): Deterring Iran after the Nuclear Deal (CSIS Reports), p. 34. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Boulder, New York, London (2017).

45. Yeo, G.: The Conceptual Fonds and the Physical Collection. Archivaria 73 (April), 45 (2012). https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13384, last accessed 2021/07/01.

46. Weinberger, D.: Transparency Is the New Objectivity. Joho the Blog (2009), https://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/2009/07/19/transparency-is-the-new-objectivity/, last accessed 2021/06/20.
Yeo, G.: Trust and Context in Cyberspace. Archives and Records 34(2), 218 (2013). DOI: 10.1080/23257962.2013.825207.

47. See examples of thematic collections:
IICHS database, thematic collections of digitized documents regarding the life and activities of the Pahlavi family or Shia clerics, especially high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy, Ayatollahs, Iran in the world wars, nationalization of the Iranian oil industry led by the future prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, in 1951, cases of famine, Iranian police, land reform in the 1960s, etc.
http://www.iichs.ir/p/Photo.aspx?sid=54&title=%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B4%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AF, last accessed 2021/06/20.
CHDS database, thematic collections of digitized documents regarding the Shia clerics, politicians, or Islamic revolution,

https://historydocuments.org/sanad/?page=books&id=&start=1, last accessed 2021/06/20.

48. See examples of collections randomly associating digital surrogates:

IICHS database, http://www.iichs.ir/p/Photo.aspx?sid=3&title=%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE-%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AF, last accessed 2021/06/20.

IRDC database, http://www.irdc.ir/fa/services/5, last accessed 2021/06/20.

CHDS database, https://historydocuments.ir/?page=documents&id=18, last accessed 2021/06/20.

49. Photograph collections are also organized thematically or randomly. See examples:

IICHS database, numbered photo collection,

http://www.iichs.ir/p/Photo.aspx?sid=4&title=%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE-%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B1, last accessed 2021/06/20.

IICHS database, thematic photo collections regarding the Shia clerics or figures of the Is-

lamic revolution recognized as such by the current political regime,

http://www.iichs.ir/p/Photo.aspx?sid=9&title=%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B4%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%B9%DA%A9%D8%B3, last accessed 2021/06/20.

IRDC database, thematic photo collection with regard to the demonstrations of June 5 and 6, 1963, in Iran protesting against the arrest of Ayatollah Khomeini after his denouncement of several reforms started by the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and designed to be a way toward modernization, which was considered by several senior Iranian Shia religious scholars to be a threat to Islam,

http://www.irdc.ir/fa/news/6889/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%85-15-%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-1342-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AA-%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B1, last accessed 2021/06/20.

50. Duranti, L.: Whose truth? Records and archives as evidence in the era of post-truth and disinformation. In: Brown, C. (ed.): Archival Futures, p. 21. 1st ed. Facet Publishing, Lon-don (2018). DOI: 10.29085/9781783302192.003.

51. Neither relevant archival references (titles, reference codes) nor important contextual ele-ments (information on creators, provenancial context, chain of custody, etc.) are available. Some databases provide “archive numbers”. IICHS database, http://www.iichs.ir/s/14019, last accessed 2021/06/20. Move the mouse pointer over the JPEG files to display small ac-companying icons providing short descriptions and “archive numbers”. This is not a gen-eral practice, and it comes up with more questions than answers. The compositions of “ar-chive numbers” have little in common, and their meaning is unclear, also because the ar-chival finding aids regarding physical archival holdings are never supplied.

52. The following collection in the IICHS database is a telling example: Collection 43, http://www.iichs.ir/s/5818, last accessed 2021/06/28. It contains, first, several documents relating to the Persian constitution of 1906, created under Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar (1896-1907) and abolished by Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (1907-1909), with the subse-quent dissolution of the National Consultative Assembly (Majles). A statement of protest made by a group of Persian patriots against William Morgan Shuster (1877-1960), an American lawyer appointed as treasurer-general of Persia by Majles in 1911, falls in some
sense within the scope of the issues of the constitutional movement. The other documents,
however, are drawn from a very disparate set of problematic lines and chronological se-
quences: an official letter attributed to Nasser al-Din Shah (1848-1896) on how the Persian
officials had to report to the Shah, a preliminary contract for the construction of a wireless
telegraph station and a lamp factory in Tehran signed by the Soviet trade representative in
Iran V.F. Kulak and Reza Khan as the Iranian Minister of War, an undated price list of pa-
per mill objects in French francs; an invitation to the former Deputy Minister of Finance
and businessman Abdolhassan Diba (1894-1982) to the meeting of the anti-opium assem-
bly held in 1926 under the presidency of the Minister of Finance Morteza Gholi Bayat
(1890-1958).

53. We refer to the fundamental concern expressed by the archival community regarding the contexts and processes through which records were created and evolved over time. These issues have been extensively discussed in the professional literature. For reference see Cook, T.: The Concept of the Archival Fonds in the Post-Custodial Era: Theory, Problems and Solutions. Archivaria 35 (January), 24-37 (1993). https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/11882, last accessed 2021/07/01. Nougaret C.: Classement et description: des principes à la pratique. In: Favier, J. (dir.): La pratique archivistique française, pp. 133-186. 1<sup>st</sup> ed. Archives Nationales, Paris (1993). Yeo, G.: The Conceptual Fonds and the Physical Collection. Archivaria 73, 43-80 (2012). https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13384, last accessed 2021/07/01. Tognoli, N.B., Guimarães, J.A.C.: Provenance as a knowledge organization principle. Knowledge Organization 46 (7), 558-568 (2019). DOI: 10.5771/0943-7444-2019-7-558. Also in: Hjørland, B., Gnoli, C. (eds.): ISKO Encyclopaedia of Knowledge Organization, http://www.isko.org/cyclo/provenance, last accessed 2021/06/21.

54. Gilliland-Swetland, A.: Enduring Paradigm, New Opportunities: The Value of the Archiv- al Perspective in the Digital Environment. CLIR Publication No. 89, p. 10. Council on Li- brary and Information Resources, Washington, DC (2000).
DOI: 10.1108/LHT.2000.18.4.383.4.

55. See a brief essay on the topic introducing digital collections about the Pahlavi dynasty, IICHS database, http://www.iichs.ir/s/3300, last accessed 2021/07/01.

56. Chehabi, H.E.: The Paranoid Style in Iranian Historiography. In: Atabaki, T. (ed.): Iran in the 20th century: Historiography and Political Culture, pp. 155-176. 1st ed. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, Iran Heritage Foundation, London, New York (2009). According to Houchang Chehabi, since the Constitutional Revolution, Iranians at all levels of society were progres- sively socialized into the confident belief that hostile conspiracies were threatening Iran, with consequences on political culture and Iranian historical narratives.

57. For reference see Abrahamian, E.: Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic, pp. 14-39. 1st ed. I.B. Tauris, London; University of California Press, Berkeley (1993). Aghaie, K.S.: Islamist Historiography in Post-Revolutionary Iran. In: Atabaki, T. (ed.): Iran in the 20th century: Historiography and Political Culture, pp. 233-263. 1st ed. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, Iran Heritage Foundation, London, New York (2009). Kadivar, M.A.: The Ayatollahs and the Republic: The religious establishment in Iran and its interaction with the Islamic Republic. Pomeps Studies 28. Islam in a changing Middle East. New Analysis of Shia Pol- itics, 6-9 (2017).

58. The IICHS series of digital collections dedicated to the members of the Pahlavi dynasty is a good illustration in this respect. IICHS database, The Pahlavi: 1st volume, http://www.iichs.ir/s/3300, last accessed 2021/07/01.

59. The members of Shi'i clergy are the most important social group discussed in the thematic collections of the CHDS database. Out of 214 digital collections, 60 collections are entire-
ly dedicated to them. CHDS database, list of thematic collections, https://historydocuments.org/sanad/?page=books, last accessed 2021/07/01. This is without taking account of the isolated digitized copies directly or indirectly related to them in other collections.

60. An interesting example is the representation of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari (1906-1986) compared to the representation of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Ali Tabatabai Borujerdi (1875-1961). Discussion about their representations through photograph collections in the IICHS database is complex. I limit myself to mentioning some striking differences. Shariatmadari, who favoured the Shiite practice of keeping clerics away from politics and was known to be a critic of Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, is symbolically deprived of authority in the IICHS digital photo collections. We never see him praying, but he is often shown as a “political militant”, namely in association with the short-lived Muslim People’s Republic party (1979-1980), of which he was a clerical advisor. The photo selected to represent the end of his life shows him to be completely alone on his death bed, noticeably thin and exhausted, as if loneliness and abandonment would be the logical outcomes of his life. IICHS database, photo collection about Shariatmadari, http://www.iichs.ir/s/5052, last accessed 2021/07/01. Borudjerdi, who died long before the 1979 revolution, is always shown in the middle of a big crowd, in pious, religious or scientific context. On his death bed, we see him in a supportive environment, surrounded by intellectuals and doctors. Numerous photos show also a huge crowd involved in his funeral ceremony. IICHS database, photo collections about Borudjerdi, http://www.iichs.ir/s/3398, http://www.iichs.ir/s/3399, last accessed 2021/07/01.