Interviews

Kourosh Ziabari  - Iran Review: I was privileged to be the Iranian delegate of the Senior Journalists Seminar 2015, a generous fellowship granted by the Hawaii-based East-West Center to a select number of American, Asian and Middle Eastern journalists since 2003 every year. The goal of the fellowship program is to bridge the gaps in the U.S. relations with the Muslim world. This year, a group of 17 journalists from Iran, Afghanistan, China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Kuwait, Malaysia, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines and the United States were selected to take part in the 21-day professional dialogue, study and travel program. The program had an unimaginably intensive and tight schedule. We had six main destinations: the three U.S....

Kourosh Ziabari: A world-renowned British adventurer, filmmaker and Guinness World Records holder believes that the mainstream media don’t offer a fair and objective view of the world to their audience. Graham David Hughes said the mass media should not withhold truth from the public, but they are doing so in an unjust manner. “nternet should allow us all to research what we read in the news and learn about the background of any given story, but “research” for most people means simply finding a blog site or YouTube video that spoon-feeds their own preconceived opinions back to them!” Graham David Hughes who has set the record of visiting every country on earth without flying or a personal vehicle believes that Iran is one of...

Kourosh Ziabari: The terrorist group ISIL is moving ahead with its cruel campaign of killing the innocent civilians en masse, while its atrocities are being depicted by the corporate media as the actions of an Islamic organization. The criminal modus operandi of the ISIL is playing into the hands of those who desire to portray Islam as the source of all the evil emerging across the world and a cause of instability and conflict in the Middle East. A prominent human rights activist and Muslim author who has researched the global Islamophobic propaganda says that “tens of millions of dollars” are being poured into the “anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim industry.” “There’s ample research demonstrating the tens of millions of...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: As the high-ranking economic and political delegations from the European and Asian countries flock to Tehran one after the other to negotiate the resumption of their trade ties with Iran following the landmark conclusion of the nuclear talks between Iran and the six world powers earlier on July 14, the United States is the only nation that hasn’t yet taken a final decision on the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and implementing it. The UN Security Council issued the resolution 2231 on July 20, endorsing the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, indicating that after a period of 10 years, Iran’s nuclear program would be treated as a normal and regular case within the...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: On the second day of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2015 held from June 22 – 24 in the German city of Bonn, a group of journalists, including me representing Iran Review, had the chance to talk with Dunja Mijatović, a prominent European expert on media law and regulation and OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. OSCE is the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and is known to be the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization, working on a range of issues including arms control, human rights and freedom of press. OSCE’s member states come from various geographical regions; from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: Since 2002 when the United States first accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons, there was barely a day when one couldn’t find a headline on the press about Iran’s nuclear program. Literally thousands of news stories, reports, articles and commentaries as well as video footage were released about Iran’s “dangerous ambitions” for manufacturing weapons of mass destruction and violating the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. During these years, the climate of Iran’s relations with the international community was more or less gloomy, and tensions marred Iran’s ties with the European Union and aggravated it’s already contentious relations with the United States. Sanctions were...

Kourosh Ziabari: As Iran’s tourism industry grows steadily, the corporate media’s stereotypical portrayal of Iran becomes unpopular and sometimes ridiculed by the Western citizens. With the influx of foreign tourists into Iran, especially from the European countries, more people are getting familiar with the unseen face of Iran as a country with an ancient culture, civilization and several natural and cultural magnets unknown to the world. An Italian journalist and photographer, who has traveled to Iran in the recent years three times, says the media’s clichés about Iran are obsolete and tiresome. Angela Corrias believes that Iranians are civilized and educated people and hospitality is a significant part of their culture and...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: On the final day of the Global Media Forum 2015 and while I had only a couple of hours to pack my luggage and depart from Bonn to Frankfurt and catch my return flight to Tehran, I got the chance to talk to a leading British peace-worker and women rights activist for a 15-minute interview for Iran Review. Scilla Elworthy is the founder of the Oxford Research Group, an advisor of The Elders and a member of several international peace organizations. She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times in recognition of her work on nuclear non-proliferation and the facilitation of dialog between weapons policy-makers and their critics. A member and councilor of the World Future Council, Ms....

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: The largest media gathering in Europe wrapped up in the German city of Bonn on June 24. The Global Media Forum 2015, organized by the Deutsche Welle and sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office, hosted around 2,000 politicians, media professionals, journalists, academicians and activists from across the world and provided the attendees with an opportunity to get familiar with the latest trends in online, print and multimedia journalism and explore the theme of foreign policy in the age of digital media. On the sidelines of the “Social media vs. digital jihad” workshop, which the Digital Mass Atrocity Prevention Lab had arranged, Iran Review interviewed the moderator Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi....

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: A European Youth Press fellowship took me to the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2015 held in the German city of Bonn from June 22 to 24 to cover the world’s largest media gathering for Iran Review. The 3-day event was held in the World Conference Center Bonn, the former home to the German Bundestag (lower house of the Federal Parliament) and several workshops and plenary sessions were arranged with different subject matters revolving around the forum’s main theme “Foreign Policy in the Age of Digital Media.” About 160 speakers and panelists delivered presentations in the workshops and plenary sessions. On the second day of the event, Iran Review conducted an interview with Mr. Gavin Rees,...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: A delegation of 7 members of European Parliament has just concluded its two-day trip to Iran, which was arranged at the invitation of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Majlis (Iran’s parliament). The EU parliamentary group, traveling to Iran from June 6-7, was headed by Elmar Brok, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament and included MEPs from different political factions such as the European People’s Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The relations between Iran and the European Union have significantly improved in the past two years since President Hassan Rouhani...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence. The International Court of Justice subsequently stated that the declaration did not violate international law. Since then, the newborn nation, yearning for a prosperous economy and constructive international ties, has undergone ups and downs and received diplomatic recognition from 110 countries. Eight nations, including the United States, Britain and France, recognized Kosovo one day after its declaration of independence. However, aside from the question of recognition, Kosovo faces other issues as well. It wants to join the European Union (EU), forge stronger ties with NATO, improve its economic indicators, make progress on its human rights...