The Iran Podcast

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Michael Page from Human Rights Watch about the Ukraine International Flight PS752 that was shot down by IRGC missiles over Tehran on 8 January 2020, and the year-long fight for truth and justice.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Paul Pillar, veteran CIA analyst, about heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, the possibility of a military conflict, and the future of US-Iran diplomacy after Trump.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Mani Mostofi, Director of Miaan Group, about the recent execution of Ruhollah Zam, the international mechanism of human rights, and how to hold abusers accountable. *This episode was made possible with support from Heinrich Boll Foundation. Music by 127.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Sina Azodi from the Atlantic Council about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the history of continuity in the country’s nuclear program since it started under the Shah and continued under the Islamic Republic. *This episode was made possible with support from Heinrich Boll Foundation. Music by 127.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Azadeh Zamirirad , Deputy Head of Middle East and Africa at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, about Europe’s role in diplomacy between Iran and the US, how the Europeans helped nuclear negotiations succeed in the past and what they can do to help deescalate tensions and restart diplomacy between Tehran and Washington. *This episode w...

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Hooman Majd, an Iranian-American author and journalist, about contemporary Iranian politics. He was born in a diplomatic family before the 1979 revolution in Iran, attended school in Europe, and now lives in New York. He has written three books on Iran; The Ayatollah Begs to Differ (2008), The Ayatollahs’ Democracy (2010), and The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not...

Negar Mortazavi speaks with John Ghazvinian, Executive Director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania, about the history of US-Iran relations over the past few centuries since 1720, and how the two countries went from mutual admiration and close ties to mutual hatred.  *This episode was made possible with support from Heinrich Boll Foundation. Music by 127.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Murtaza Hussain from The Intercept and Eli Clifton from Responsible Statecraft about a State Department project called IRAN DISINFO that attacked journalists and academics who were critical of Trump's Iran policy, as well as a fake online persona called Heshmat Alavi that is run by the MEK and has been retweeted by Donald Trump. *This episode was made possible with supp...

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Azadeh Shahshahani, Legal and Advocacy Director at Project South, about Donald Trump’s Travel Ban on Iranians and other nations, how political tensions between Washington and Tehran impact Iranians living in and traveling to the US, and FBI’s surveillance of Iranians and other Muslim communities in the US. *This episode was made possible with support from Heinrich Boll...

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Nahid Siamdoust, visiting Assistant Professor at Harvard University, about music after the 1979 revolution in Iran through the Iran-Iraq war, the post-war era of pop music, political music inspired by the 2009 green movement, and today's musicians in the diaspora, in memory of legendary Iranian singer the late Mohammadreza Shajarian. (Music by Shajarian, Koveitipoor, Sh...

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Joe Cirincione, nuclear policy expert and former President of Ploughshares Fund, about the Iran nuclear deal as part of the global nonproliferation movement, why the JCPOA was a good deal, and how a potential Biden administration can revive this agreement.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Asieh Namdar, a news anchor at CGTN America and a former anchor at CNN, about immigrating to the U.S. as a child in the height of the 1979 revolution and the hostage crisis in Iran, being one of the first Iranian-Americans on television, and dealing with toxic attacks on journalists online. (Music by 127)

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Hadi Ghaemi , founder and Executive Director of the  Center for Human Rights in Iran , about the execution of a young wrestler named Navid Afkari in Iran, ongoing protests against the government, how the state is using violence to crack down on protesters, and human rights violations in the Islamic Republic since the eve of the 1979 revolution.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Jamal Abdi , president of the National Iranian American Council, about political participation in the Trump era and why the largest Iranian-American grassroots organization decided to endorse Biden for President. (Music by 127)

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Sussan Tahmasebi, Iranian-American feminist and Director of FEMENA , about a Me Too moment in Iran as a large number of women and men on social media are breaking taboos and sharing stories of sexual abuse. (Music by 127)

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Behdad Esfahbod, an Iranian-Canadian computer engineer who has worked for Facebook and Google. Behdad was arrested on a personal trip to Iran and was pressured by the IRGC to spy for them. He was imprisoned and put in solitary confinement for one week and asked about internet freedom and activists outside Iran who work to help Iranian users circumvent government censors...

We speak with Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute on how Obama’s diplomacy with Iran succeeded, why Trump has not been able to bring Iran to the negotiating table, and how a Biden administration should engage with Iran.

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Michael Singh , Managing Director at the Washington Institute, about the Trump administration’s Iran policy and the future of the JCPOA under a second Trump term or a Biden presidency.  (Music by 127)

Negar Mortazavi speaks with Thomas Juneau , associate professor at the University of Ottawa and former analyst at Canada's Department of National Defence, about diplomatic relations between Iran and Canada over the past decades and key events that have impacted Ottawa's policy towards Tehran. (Music by 127)

Negar Mortazavi speaks to Narges Bajoghli, an anthropologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University, about how the Islamic Republic uses media to shape narratives in Iran and beyond its borders, how diaspora media provide competitive narratives, how American media cover Iran, and why Iran is still poorly understood in the US. (Music by 127)

We speak with Tara Sepehri Far, researcher at Human Rights Watch, about the three young men sentenced to death for November 2019 protests, the efficacy of online campaigns and domestic civil society organizations against the death penalty, the successful effort to reduce the executions for drug offenses, and the impact of sanctions on human rights.

Description: We speak to Yara Elmjouie, an award-winning journalist at Aljazeera, about growing up as an Iranian-American in a small town in California, how the 2009 Green Movement impacted his views on Iran, his television shows about food and social justice, and how US sanctions have led to American companies censoring the identities of Iranian-Americans.

We speak to Mahsa Alimardani at Oxford University about internet freedom in Iran, how the state censors the internet, how Iranians use circumvention tools to go around the censorship, and how US sanctions on technology limits access to internet for Iranians.

We speak with Vali Nasr about Bolton’s book and Iran, on Trump’s maximum pressure campaign, the costs and benefits for Iran should they hold talks with the US, possibility of return to JCPOA if Biden wins 2020, Iran’s upcoming presidential elections, Iran’s regional policies, Iran’s position against Israel and the consequences of it.

We speak to Nader Hashemi, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at University of Denver, about ongoing protests in the US and how they have inspired anti-racism movements around the world, recent protests in Iran and across the Middle East, and how US foreign policy towards the region impacts movements for democratic governance.