The Iran Podcast

Negar Mortazavi speaks to Mohsen Milani, Founding Executive Director of Center for Strategic & Diplomatic Studies at University of South Florida, about the 1979 revolution in Iran, America’s position towards the revolution and the significance of the hostage crisis, and today’s situation in Iran and similarities and differences with the years leading to 1979.

Negar Mortazavi speaks to Nancy Gallagher, Director of the Center for International and Security Studies at University of Maryland, about Iranian public opinion on Covid19, economy, nuclear policy, regional security, and domestic politics, based on two in-depth surveys fielded in September-October 2020 and January-February 2021.

Negar Mortazavi speaks to John Glaser, director of foreign policy at the Cato Institute, about America's role in the world and the case for Restraint in US foreign policy that calls for reducing America's global military presence and decades of wars and armed intervention in the Middle East. (Interview was recorded on February 23) Producer: Joshua Barlow - Music: 127Band

Negar Mortazavi speaks to Fatemeh Keshavarz, Director of School of Languages and Cultures at University of Maryland, about the importance of people-to-people exchanges with Iran, the role of arts and culture in making bridges, how the poetry of Rumi and Hafez and other prominent Persian poets has lived on for centuries, and about her life growing up in the city of Shiraz. Music by 127Band

Negar Mortazavi speaks to Ambassador John Limbert, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran and one of the last US diplomats to serve in Tehran where he was taken hostage in 1979. They discuss four decades of animosity between Tehran and Washington and how both sides have been wrestling with the ghosts of history.

Negar Mortazavi speaks to Kelsey Davenport, Director of Nonproliferation at the Arms Control Association, about the current state of Iran’s nuclear program, the limits set by the JCPOA, Iran’s past nuclear activities, and the path forward for a full return to the Iran nuclear deal.

Negar Mortazavi speaks to Matt Duss, foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, about a progressive vision for US foreign policy towards the Middle East, two decades after 9/11 and the global war on terror.

Negar Mortazavi speaks to Erica Moret about the effectiveness of sanctions as a foreign policy tool, the various different types of sanctions, and their humanitarian impact on targeted countries.  (Music by 127)

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.