Negar Mortazavi

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Negar Mortazavi
Born1981 (age 39–40)
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian, American
Alma mater
OccupationJournalist, political analyst

Negar Mortazavi (Persian: نگار مرتضوی; born 1981) is an Iranian-American journalist and political analyst based in Washington DC. She is a columnist for The Independent[1] and host of the Iran Podcast.[2]

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Early life[]

Mortazavi was born in Tehran, Iran. She went to school in Germany for two years, and later immigrated to the United States. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Arts from Brandeis University.[3]

Career[]

Mortazavi has written for Foreign Policy magazine,[4] Politico, and Huffington Post. She is a frequent commentator on Iranian affairs and US foreign policy who has appeared on MSNBC,[5] BBC,[6] PRI,[7] Aljazeera,[8] Huffington Post,[9] and international outlets in France, China, Turkey, and Israel.

Mortazavi worked as a TV presenter at Voice of America Persian where she hosted a daily show that discussed current affairs with Iranians.[10]

She has interviewed prominent figures in various fields including American boxing champion Muhammad Ali, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, California Congressman Ro Khanna, U.S. Treasury Department's Assistant Secretary David S. Cohen, U.S. State Department's Persian spokesperson Alan Eyre, and American journalist and former political prisoner Sarah Shourd.

In 2019 Mortazavi led an investigative reporting project and later brought a lawsuit against the Department of State [11] that exposed how a $1.5 million grant by the United States Department of State given to the “Iran Disinformation Project” was used to smear human rights activists, journalists, and academics, many of whom were American citizens.[12] The State Department immediately suspended the Iran Disinformation Project and later terminated its funding.[13][14]

In 2014, Mortazavi launched a Kickstarter campaign to travel to Brazil and live-tweet Iran's Team Melli presence at the 2014 FIFA World Cup for her Twitter followers as an independent reporter. The campaign was successful and Kickstarter featured it as one of the most creative campaigns launched on the platform.[15]

Mortazavi previously worked for the International Center for Journalists,[16] The National Iranian American Council (NIAC),[17] and the United Nations headquarters in New York.[17]

Recognition[]

In 2021 Mortazavi was featured in Forbes among 30 inspirational women who have made great achievements in various fields and continue to break boundaries in work and life.[18] The recognition was a part of a series for the Women's History Month.[19]

In 2020 Mortazavi was named a MENA-American Young Leader by New America, among a group of leaders in diplomacy, national security, international development, and politics with unique perspectives that have been integral in re-shaping the discourse around the future of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa.[20]

In 2017 Mortazavi was named a MENA Young Leader by Friends of Europe, as part of a new generation of leaders who are tackling the increasing disconnects between citizens and political elites, to rebuild the trust that is vital to democracies.[21]

The Guardian newspaper has named her one of the top ten people to follow on Twitter for Iran news and commentary.[22]

References[]

  1. ^ "Author page on The Independent".
  2. ^ "Iran Podcast" (Podcast).
  3. ^ "2021 | News Archives".
  4. ^ "Negar Mortazavi".
  5. ^ "Articles on MSNBC by Mortazavi".
  6. ^ "BBC World Have Your Say: Syria "Stalemate", Rouhani's Iran & the UK Veil Debate".
  7. ^ "Negar Mortazavi on Public Radio International".
  8. ^ "Hurdles Still Remain in Iran Nuclear Deal". Al Jazeera America. July 2015. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  9. ^ "Contributor profile on Huffington Post".
  10. ^ "VOA PNN Rooyekhat". Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  11. ^ "State Department Cut Funding for Controversial "Iran Disinfo" Project — but Kept Working with its Creators".
  12. ^ "Trump administration says it has terminated support for controversial anti-Iran campaign that 'smeared US citizens'". The Independent. 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  13. ^ "US terminates funds for anti-Iran Twitter feed". AP News. 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  14. ^ "US cuts funds for 'anti-propaganda' Iran group that trolled activists". The Guardian. 2019-05-31.
  15. ^ "Tweeting the World Cup: Iranian-American shares Iran's World Cup with the world". Yahoo News. June 22, 2014. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  16. ^ "Perspectives on the Iranian Nuclear Framework Agreement".
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b NIAC Welcomes New Media and Communications Staff at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-03-04)
  18. ^ "Meet 30 Inspirational Women This Women's History Month".
  19. ^ Williams, Tommy. "Meet 30 Inspirational Women This Women's History Month". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  20. ^ "2020 Middle Eastern and North African American National Security & Foreign Policy Next Generation Leaders". New America. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  21. ^ "European Young Leaders, 2017". Friends of Europe.
  22. ^ Iran: top 10 people to follow on Twitter. The Guardian (Report). 20 May 2014. Retrieved 2020-11-19.

External links[]

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