Postal Service in Iran

1930 Air Mail edition with Reza Shah and Mount Damavand background

Historians believe that postal services were an Iranian invention. According to Xenophon, Cyrus the Great was the first to introduce such services, which played an important part in enabling him to control the vast Iranian Empire. Cyrus conceived the idea of the mounted messenger on fast horses which were exchanged at periodically spaced stations. It was the Iranian postal system that inspired Herodotus's famous statement, "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, stays these valiant couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

The modern postal system in Iran dates from the mid-nineteenth century and in 1873 the first postal route was started between Tehran, Tabriz and Jolfa, between Tehran and Shemiran, and between Tehran and Bushehr. In 1878, Iran joined the Universal Postal Union and in 1928 a Ministry of Posts was established.

During the reign of Reza Shah the Great, the postal service received high priority. A main post office was built, and postal services were greatly improved.

Before World War II, however, postal services were virtually confined to the cities, and there were only 800 post boxes in the whole country. This meant that 95 per cent of the country's geographical area and 70 per cent of the population had no access to postal services.

During the Third and Fourth Plans detailed studies were undertaken with the help of foreign experts and were implemented. The Fifth Plan targets for postal services included, the establishment of 620 new post offices, 16,000 post boxes, light mechanized sorting centres and the recruitment of 9,200 new personnel. Among the improvements planned are delivery of letters between any two points in the country within four days and the provision of postal services to even the smallest and remotest villages.

Butterflies of Iran - 1974

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