Interviews

  Kourosh Ziabari - Controversy over Iran’s nuclear program in the recent years has been one of the unchanging headlines of the world newspapers and TV stations that have fervently gave coverage to the confrontation between Iran and the Western powers over the allegations that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons. The United States and its European allies that have accused Iran of trying to produce atomic bombs under the guise of a civilian nuclear program have so far failed to substantiate their claims by putting forward reliable evidence, but using their enormous political influence and power, they have imposed hard-hitting, troubling economic sanctions against Iran to convince it to abandon its nuclear activities, including...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Over the past decade, Iran’s nuclear program has been one of the most controversial and debatable foreign policy issues which the U.S. mass media have widely discussed and continually given coverage to. Thousands of news stories, articles, commentaries and interviews were published by the newspapers and magazines on this matter beside hundreds of hours of radio and television programs aired by the American networks and stations. What is questionable here is that the majority of the media outlets that covered Iran’s nuclear program and the controversy surrounding it followed a set of clichés and stereotypes which kept them away from an objective and realistic approach toward what’s really going on....

Kourosh Ziabari - Renowned American intellectual and cultural critic Michael Parenti believes that the United States, intrigued by a group of influential and affluent Jews, is exercising double standards with regards to Iran’s nuclear program and treating Iranians in a discriminatory way through imposing unilateral and unjust sanctions. “Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which gives it the right to develop enriched uranium for peaceful use of nuclear power. The US and Israel are not signatories of the treaty. Both of them have enormous arsenals of nuclear missiles arsenals. Thus, they stand in violation of the international law on nuclear proliferation,” Parenti said in an exclusive interview. Michael Parenti...

  Kourosh Ziabari, Iran Review: Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve most probably heard of the Christian Pastor who set several copies of Quran, the holy book of Muslims, on fire in 2010 on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The eccentric pastor believes, or pretends to believe that Muslims were responsible for the killing of American citizens as the American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center North and South Towers respectively on September 11, 2001 and killed around 3,000 people. Terry Jones is the name who sparked an international controversy in 2010 and 2011 when announced his plans for burning the copies of Holy Quran under the pretext that Islam is a religion of...

  Kourosh Ziabari - The offensive movie “Innocence of Muslims” which has pejoratively insulted Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and portrayed Islam a retrograde, corrupt and repressive religion is still drawing international condemnation, even though it seems that the wave of protests and demonstrations against this blasphemous movie across the Muslim world has calmed down. People with different political viewpoints and religious belongings have expressed their dismay and consternation at the movie and called it an effort to sow the seeds of discord and conflict between the Muslims, Christians and Jews and pitting them against each other. In order to further investigate the motives behind the production of the film and the...

Kourosh Ziabari - It’s been almost a decade that the United States, Israel and their European allies have been pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear program. Economic sanctions, threats of military strike, assassinations and cyber attacks were all the options which they have resorted to in order to ruin Iran’s nuclear program. At the same time, Israel, which admittedly possesses up to 200 atomic warheads, has been unconditionally supported by the United States and Europe and every effort to investigate Israel’s nuclear arsenal by the international organization has been stalled by Washington. Simultaneously, the ever-increasing animosity between Iran and Israel has embittered the Iran-West relations more than before. To further...

  Kourosh Ziabari - When the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first bragged about a red line regarding Iran’s nuclear program, the international observers assumed that the flames of an imminent war between Israel and Iran will be ignited soon and Israel will act unilaterally to launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities in contravention of the UN Charter. We already know that it’s far from reality to expect Israel to play the role of a committed and righteous member of the international community. Since its inception in 1948, Israel has been at odds with all of its neighbors and the countries that have challenged its legitimacy. Now, Israel feels that Iran is threatening its shaky foundations and...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Naseer Aruri is Chancellor Professor (emeritus) of Political Science, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. He is president of Trans-Arab Research Institute in Boston. Prof. Aruri is the a contributor to the book “Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War” by the South End Press and the author of the book “Palestinian Refugees: The Right of Return” published by the University of British Columbia Press in 2001. Prof. Aruri is on the Advisory Board of the Council for Palestinian Restitution and Repatriation. Aruri has also written the book “The Obstruction of Peace: The U.S., Israel and the Palestinians.” Amazon.com has described this book “a Palestinian perspective on the peace...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Jeffrey Blankfort is an American photojournalist, radio producer and Middle East analyst. He currently hosts radio programs on KZYX in Mendocino, CA and KPOO in San Francisco. Blankfort was formerly the editor of the Middle East Labor Bulletin and co-founder of the Labor Committee of the Middle East. In February 2002, he won a lawsuit against the Zionist organization Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which was found to have been spying on the American citizens critical of Israel and its expansionistic policies. Jeffrey joined me in an exclusive interview to discuss the influence of Israeli lobby on the decision-makers of the U.S. government, Israel’s illegal, underground nuclear program, the prospect of Israeli...

  Kourosh Ziabari - A hero of freedom of speech, boycotted by the corporate mainstream media that are resistant to the astringent truth: this is the most precise introduction I can give about Carlos Latuff. Born in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he is an artist of conscience whose artistic commitment and morality prevented him from becoming the pawn of imperialism. Carlos Latuff is a world-renowned cartoonist who has long brought into existence artistic works and cartoons in which the footsteps of creativity, novelty, intelligence and decency can be noticeably traced. He has never been given the opportunity to showcase his matchless cartoons in the New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, BBC or CNN. However, the narrow...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Christopher Bollyn is an American journalist and researcher. He is widely known for his extensive research on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that cost the lives of 2,976 victims and left more than 6,000 injured. The U.S. government under former President George W. Bush blamed the terrorist group Al-Qaida as the main culprit of the attacks and adopted an aggressive policy towards Muslim nations. It also enacted the USA PATRIOT Act and issued an illegal order to search and investigate the telephone and email communications of the U.S. citizens under the pretext of discovering and mapping out possible threats to U.S. national security. Bollyn has written on U.S.–Israel relations comprehensively and...

  Kourosh Ziabari - In September 2007, Stephen Zunes fell under the spotlight of the mass media following his meeting with the controversial Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York during his third trip to the U.S. to attend the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Dr. Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he serves as the chairman of Middle Eastern Studies program. His articles constantly appear in the major media outlets and news websites including Common Dreams, Tikkun Magazine, National Catholic Reporter, Foreign Policy In Focus, Huffington Post, Open Democracy and AlterNet. Zunes also appears on BBC, PBS, NPR and MSNBC as...