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Stricken by Parkinsons disease in his final days. Born in Tehran in October 1920, Masoud Barzin died in August 2010 and was buried in Behesht Zahra cemetery.
He ordered the removal of censorship and encouraged journalists to support Bakhtiyar. When the television tried to broadcast Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Tehran, the military invaded the station and stopped the broadcast.
For the next 30 years he was forced into "Khaneh-Neshini", sitting at home. The authorities banned him from signing any legal contract (mamno al-moameleh) and from leaving the country for 13 years. He was denied his pension and medical insurance for 23 years. It was during the government of President Mohammad Khatami that an appeal was accepted and his medical insurance and pension were restored.
After the revolution, Barzin was detained on the fabricated charge of meeting the US ambassador in Tehran. He was detained for 123 days in Qasr and Evin prisons where he witnessed sham trials and summary executions.
He continued to research and published a number of books. One was an archive of Iranian publications: 1836-1978.
He worked at the office of Farah Pahlavi for several years where he tried to bring the queen closer to the people. The photo shows him with the queen on a trip to China to improve bilateral relations. He resigned from his post in early 1970s and went to teach journalism at the university.
Barzin wrote or translated 36 dissertations and books in his life time, including several works on the history of journalism in Iran.
At the height of the Islamic revolution, Barzin accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar to head the National Radio and Television network.
Barzin and Manoochehr Javid - Janhanshah Javid's father - both worked for the NIOC Public Relations Office in Abadan. The third person in the photo is Peter Avery, the eminent Cambridge University scholar of Persian, on a visit from London.
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