LATEST NEWS
Compiled by Tony Rogers as a supplement to the various DX Guides
Updated 16 January 2026
Shortwave
Radio Farda latest Radio Farda is the Iranian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), providing "factual, objective and professional journalism" to its audiences. It produces programmes in the Persian language from its headquarters in the district of Hagibor in Prague, Czech Republic. Radio Farda first aired in December 2002. It broadcasts news on topics such as political, cultural, social, and art, with an emphasis on Iran.
On 15 March 2025, the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) terminated grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and its subsidiaries following a directive from the Trump administration and Radio Farda discontinued its broadcasting service immediately. However, in June 2025 Radio Farda resumed operations on shortwave, possibly being funded by non-USAGM means, and these broadcasts lasted until September 2025 when they were again terminated. They were via Dhabbaya, UAE and Woofferton, UK, both non-USAGM transmitter sites.
In response to civil unrest in
Iran that began on 28 December 2025, Radio Farda again returned on shortwave to Iran and the following frequencies have been
registered with HFCC by Encompass, effective from 12 January
2026 (but some actually were observed on-air from 10 January).
Time/UTC Days Language kHz Transmitter
site kW
0400-0500 Daily Persian 12005 Dhabbaya, UAE 250
0500-0900 Daily Persian 15430 Dhabbaya, UAE 250
0800-1200 Daily Persian 15110 Dhabbaya, UAE 250
1200-1500 Daily Persian 15310 Dhabbaya, UAE 250
1500-1700 Daily Persian 13755 Dhabbaya, UAE 250
1700-1900 Daily Persian 12005 Woofferton, UK 250
1900-2030 Daily Persian 9515 Woofferton, UK 250
2030-0400 Daily Persian 5875 Woofferton, UK 250
Alternatively, the Radio Farda website at https://www.radiofarda.com/a/33644714.html displayed these frequencies as of 14 January 2026:
Time/UTC kHz
0530-0800 15430
0530-1400 15615
0800-1400 15110
1400-1500 15310
1500-2100 7500
1500-1700 13755
Iranian jamming has been observed on some frequencies.
Radio Shabname, new target broadcast to Iran Radio Shabname is a new Persian-language shortwave radio station. It was first reported by Mauno Ritola on the WRTH Facebook group on 15 January 2026. Thanks to Zach Liangas, the following description was obtained with the help of Grok: Radio Shabname positions itself as the "Voice of Freedom", broadcasting uncensored news and content from beyond Iran's borders, specifically designed to reach listeners inside Iran when internet access is restricted or cut off. The station emphasises reliability in crisis: shortwave signals cannot be censored. No internet, VPN, or registration required - just a basic radio receiver. It aims to deliver trusted international news, voices of protesters and activists inside Iran, and messages of support from Iranians abroad. Further details can be found at https://shabname.org/, where it explains that "Shabname, meaning "night letter", has been the name of writings distributed at night for centuries so the voice of truth could be heard".
The schedule mentioned on the
Radio Shabname website as of 15 January 2026 is as follows:
Time/UTC kHz
1530-1630 7465 and 17540
1830-1930 9680
At the time of editing the identity of the broadcast at 1830-1930 on 9680 kHz is subject to confirmation. It was heard on 15 January to mention "Radio Zaman e-Bidari" at the start of the programme, rather than "Radio Shabname"; Radio Zaman e-Bidari is a separate target broadcast to Iran that is aired weekly on Thursdays, also at 1830-1930, but on 9705 kHz. As this was a Thursday, a check on 9705 kHz did reveal a station at the same time with a different programme in Persian, presumed to be Radio Zaman e-Bidari, but no clear identification was heard. Further monitoring and research may be needed to sort this conundrum out!
BBC Persian to resume on shortwave John Jurasek
posted the following to the World of Radio IO Group on 15 January 2026: "With
all the recent broadcasts to Iran - I stumbled across some interesting entries
in the HFCC File for the BBC World Service, effective today for the most part. Time
will tell if these are all wooden entries or if the BBC has actually
reactivated their broadcasts to Iran". The HFCC registrations show the
following frequencies (all via A'Seela, Oman, 250 kW):
Time/UTC Days kHz
0330-0430 Daily 9410 9420 9440 9590
1630-1700 Daily 9465 9570 9605 9770
1830-1930 Daily 6130 7425 7445
Alokesh Gupta later posted information on the British DX Club IO Group from BBC
News @bbcpersian on X: "Listen to the latest news related to the
nationwide protests and unrest in Iran via radio on shortwave and medium wave"
(see mediumwave section below for MW schedule):
07:00 to 07:30 am Tehran time (0330-0400 UTC) on frequency: 9410 kHz
08:00 to 08:30 am Tehran time (0430-0500 UTC) on frequency: 9465 kHz
10:00 to 11:00 pm Tehran time (1830-1930 UTC) on frequency: 7445 kHz
Voice of America Mandarin to resume The VOA Mandarin service will resume starting 19 January 2026 (UTC). It is scheduled for Monday-Friday at 2200-2230 UTC on 7500 kHz from Tinang, Philippines. It appears that a 10-minute news segment will be repeated three times during the broadcast. In East Asia, this corresponds to Tuesday-Saturday mornings, which is a rather unusual pattern. (Atsuhiko Takezawa, 16 January 2026. Atsuhiko will monitor the broadcast on 19 January to check if details are correct. The time and frequency is showing as a HFCC registration for Monday to Friday (23456) for the period 26 October 2025-28 March 2026):
Time/UTC Days Language kHz Transmitter site kW Target
2200-2230 Mon-Fri Mandarin 7500 Tinang, Philippines 250 East Asia
Reuters: Radio Free Asia to resume Korean broadcasts to reach North Mike Cooper posted the following Reuters report to the World of Radio IO Group: January 15, 2026 8:18 PM EST. WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Radio Free Asia, a U.S. state-funded outlet that largely ceased operations last year amid a Trump administration cost-cutting drive, plans to revive its Korean content as a way to reach reclusive North Korea, a spokesperson said on Thursday. "We plan to start producing North Korean digital content later next week," Rohit Mahajan, RFA's chief communications officer said, adding that radio programming would follow. He said the effort would rely on four reporters based in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. "RFA's leadership team made the decision to restart the service, based on resources we have on hand ... recognizing the critical role of our uncensored reporting at a time when so few trusted sources are available to the North Korean people," he said. RFA and sister outlets have been financed with Congressional funds and overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Last year President Donald Trump appointed Kari Lake, a former news anchor loyal to him, to head USAGM and she terminated their grants, alleging waste of taxpayer money and anti-Trump bias, forcing mass layoffs. Trump's domestic critics called it a strategic blunder in U.S. competition with authoritarian governments including China, and the moves faced legal challenges and push-back in Congress. A bipartisan spending bill, that still requires approval by Congress and Trump, includes $643 million for USAGM. Mahajan said Korea Service broadcasts, for which RFA would finance the transmission costs, would begin later this month with one original radio program currently planned per week. He said the restart would be financed by congressional funding allocated for the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year and additional programming would be added once the fiscal new congressional package was enacted. Mahajan said the Korean Service would join RFA's Mandarin and Burmese Services, which have already restarted content production and that RFA also plans to re-start its Uyghur, Tibetan, and Cantonese service into China. He said that "before the U.S. Agency for Global Media unlawfully terminated our grant," the Korean Service had close to 50 staffers, about 37 of them in DC and 12 in Seoul. Asked to comment on RFA's plans, Kari Lake said in a statement that RFA "had produced almost no broadcasting over the past year" despite receiving nearly $60 million in funding from USAGM, "while whining and spreading lies that they weren't being paid to smear Trump Administration efforts at USAGM". "If taxpayers are required to fund RFA due to Congressional appropriations, we hope RFA will show a modicum of respect to the American taxpayer and start to produce honest, effective coverage that is aligned with American national interests," she added. Mahajan said Lake had to date refused to meet with RFA and sister organizations to discuss their work. He said that despite layoffs and furloughs that diminished RFA's editorial staff by more than 90%, RFA was "fulfilling its Congressional mandate to provide accurate, timely news in our coverage areas". He said RFA had to pay severance to laid-off staff and remaining funds had been set aside to sustain the organization and avoid bankruptcy. Reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington and Heejin Kim in Seoul; Editing by Don Durfee. (https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/radio-free-asia-resume-korean-broadcasts-reach-north-2026-01-16/ via Mike Cooper, World of Radio IO Group)
World's Last Chance bankrupt so WBCQ 9330 kHz off The World's Last Chance ministry has apparently gone bankrupt and has abandoned shortwave radio and WBCQ. The following message is now posted on wbcq.com: "Superstation available: One of the most powerful and versatile shortwave stations is now available for your lease. The Monticello Maine Superstation operating on 9.330 MHz with up to 500 KW of power with its fully rotatable antenna system can put a shortwave signal anywhere in our world. Contact WBCQ at (207) 889-0039 for this unique opportunity" (Larry Will, Area 51, to World of Radio IO Group, 14 January 2026)
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Mediumwave
BBC Persian BBC Persian has resumed operations on mediumwave and shortwave, as mentioned above. The MW schedule is listed as follows by BBC News @bbcpersian on X (with thanks to Alokesh Gupta on the British DX Club IO Group). Presumably 1395 kHz is from Armenia (TR):
1730-1800 UTC on 1395 kHz
1930-2000 UTC on 1395 kHz
Voice of America broadcasts to Iran begin on mediumwave 1548 kHz From the VOA Persian website and Google translated into English: "Radio broadcasting of Voice of America programs for audiences inside Iran has begun. You can now hear Voice of America television programs simultaneously via the medium wave 1548 kHz in the AM band of all radios, including in private cars, trucks, and intercity buses." - 10 January, 1404 (2026). https://ir.voanews.com/a/voa-radio-broadcast-launch-on-1548khz-am/8101808.html. Indications are that it is on-air between 1730-2330 UTC and is jammed.