Interviews

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Trade ties and political exchanges between the European Union (EU) and Latin America are growing. The EU is the second biggest trade partner for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and some 2.2 million Latin Americans live in Europe. According to recent data, the EU is the largest foreign investor in the continent. There are a large number of prominent European politicians and diplomats who have dedicated their careers to boosting economic and political relations between the EU and the Latin America. One of these politicians is Benita Ferrero-Waldner. She had served five years as the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy and was the head of protocol to...

Kourosh Ziabari - Tehran Times: Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos was the 13th European Union chief diplomat to visit Iran following the election of Hassan Rouhani as the country’s president in June 2013. Venizelos, who also serves as the Greek deputy prime minister, conferred with high-ranking Iranian officials during his visit to Iran in March and reiterated his country’s interest in expanding economic, cultural, political, and technological relations with Iran and in helping to effect a complete normalization of ties between Iran and the EU if the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six major powers result in a final pact. In an exclusive interview with the Tehran Times, Venizelos said that Greece regards Iran...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Located in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe, Finland shines as one of the most successful democracies in the world, coming first in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. The Nordic country has very good economic indicators and was classified by The Heritage Foundation as the world’s 16th country in terms of economic freedom. Despite being affected by the global economic crisis, Finland has a flourishing economy with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $267 billion. Finland is a country in which you rarely experience such phenomena as inflation or overpricing. Transparency and government accountability are the major characteristics of the nation’s...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Lithuania is one of the smallest countries in Europe. A diverse nation in terms of its ethnic make-up, Lithuania has a population of around 2.9 million people. After two occupations by Soviet forces in June 1940 and July 1994, and a Nazi invasion in June 1941, Lithuania eventually declared independence in 1990 and joined the European Union (EU) in 2004. Lithuania does not make international headlines as often as its neighbors, but is strategically positioned as an eastern NATO member and is considered a free country by Freedom House. The country became a NATO member during the second post-Cold War round of enlargement in 2004, and has a thriving economy with plans to adopt the euro in early...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: Afghanistan has not been a safe and stable country for several decades, and its security conditions have deteriorated gravely after the first American and NATO troops set foot into its cities. The U.S. war on Afghanistan, which was launched by former President George W. Bush with the purported aim of eradicating terrorism from the country, has so far failed to realize the dream of ultimately defeating the Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgents. Despite all the failures and setbacks that Afghanistan has experienced over the recent years, especially following the 2001 U.S. invasion of the country, and notwithstanding the widespread economic insufficiency and corruption that have taken over Afghanistan, it can...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: The self-imposed November 24 deadline for the conclusion of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program is approaching, and the Iranian nation, as well as thousands of enthusiastic people across the world, are waiting to see if more than one decade of strife and conflict over Tehran's nuclear activities will finally come to an end or not. President Hassan Rouhani's administration has shown its strong willingness and firmness to resolve the nuclear controversy through diplomatic channels and peacefully. Since he came to power in June 2013 presidential elections, Iran and the group of P5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) held several round of intensive talks the lengthiest...

Kourosh Ziabari: An American singer and songwriter who has composed several songs in solidarity with the people of Palestine says that Israel is conducting a campaign of slow genocide in the Gaza Strip. David Rovics believes that the Israeli regime kills the Palestinian people with impunity and no country in the world dares to take military action to prevent it from carrying out its project of mass killing in the Occupied Territories. The Oregon-based singer, who has been called an anti-Semite by the Israeli-allied media in the United States for his outspoken criticism of Israel says the truth should be stated regarding the nature of this regime: "I have been branded as anti-Semitic for stating the obvious many times. But it is most...

Kourosh Ziabari: Professor Diana Ralph, a retired Canadian university professor and prominent social worker says, there's little doubt that the United States was involved in the 9/11 attacks. Prof. Diana Ralph believes that the 9/11 attacks played into the hands of the US government and Israel to launch a long-awaited global war on the Middle East and Central Asia, dominate the regional countries' extensive energy resources and create a foothold for a permanent presence in the region. "The 9/11 pretext served the interests of all those who benefit from military sales and oppressing people. It effectively derailed the rising anti-globalization movement worldwide, including the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, by turning Western...

Fair Observer - Kourosh Ziabari: The Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák was the 13th European foreign minister to visit Iran since the moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani became President of Iran in June 2013. Lajčák came to Iran less than a week after the Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard concluded his trip to the country, and took part in an exclusive interview with Fair Observer. Aside from his role as the foreign minister, Miroslav Lajčák is also serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia in the cabinet of Robert Fico. Lajčák is a veteran diplomat who has held several high-ranking political offices prior to beginning his tenure as the Slovak Foreign Minister in April 2012. From 1994 to...

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: The rise of the terrorist group which has declared itself an Islamic State and intends to establish a caliphate over significant parts of Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey is now the most pressing and urgent matter for the international community, bringing together countries from different parts of the world together to form a coalition against it. An offshoot of Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIS or ISIL, has carried out several terrorist attacks in Iraq and Syria in the recent years, especially following the fomentation of unrest in Syria in 2011. The Islamic State considers itself an Islamic authority whose ultimate mission is to govern the whole Muslim world. It...

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: Italy’s former culture minister, Massimo Bray, has just concluded his second trip to Iran which he believes has been one of the most delightful and charming experiences in his lifetime. When Massimo Bray visited Iran in January of this year, he was a member of the cabinet of Prime Minister Enrico Letta; however, following the growing criticism of the prime minister’s economic policies and his tensions with the left-wing Secretary of the Democratic Party, Matteo Renzi, Letta resigned and the cabinet was reshuffled. Subsequently, Dario Franceschini replaced Massimo Bray. However, Bray’s enchantment with the Iranian culture and history and his fascination with the delicacy and...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: The Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard is just departing from Iran. He was the 13th European foreign minister to visit Iran following the election of Hassan Rouhani as the President of Iran in June last year. The rate of diplomatic exchanges between Iran and Europe has increased dramatically, and the continent that was literally detached from Iran for around one decade is once again seeking ways for reengagement with one of the world's most important emerging powers and energy hubs. An Iran policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations explains to Iran Review her viewpoints about the rapprochement between Iran and the European Union and the leading role the powerful 28-member bloc of...