Iranians' exposure to new technologies in the United States and their results Based on Press and Unpublished Documents (Case study of telegraph and telephone)

Iranians became acquainted with Western American civilization and culture during the Qajar period. During this period, the United States was able to make great strides, especially in the field of communication technology, and astonished the world, especially Iranians. In this regard, Iranian thinkers began to analyze American inventions in the field of technologies such as telegraph and telephone and how they were developed. The increase in information and awareness of the astonishing achievements of the Americans and the subconscious comparison between the situation in Iran and this country raised many questions about the causes of the huge rift between the two countries. In this article with a historical approach and relying on the press and unpublished documents tries to examine how progressives are exposed to new American technologies such as telegraph and telephone, and to answer the question of whether Iranians awareness of US communications achievements had any consequences or not? The findings of the study hypothesize that intellectuals, especially from the Nasseri period, have reflected the most knowledge about American changes in the field of communication and suggested the idea of ​​benefiting from these advances. Following these reports, Iranian political representatives in Washington and government officials, on the one hand, sought to attend American technology conferences and employing telegraph advisers from the country and on the other hand, they took important steps to learn about the achievements of the United States in the field of telegraph and telephone through modeling, concluding contracts, and sending students to this country