Interviews

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Iran is a country with a rich culture. Those who know about its ancient history probably agree that it shouldn’t be judged based on the events after the 1979 revolution. Indeed, there are many people across the globe who simply know Iran through the mainstream media’s portrayal of the oil-rich nation and the stereotypes associated with it: a theocratic, anti-Western country with a controversial nuclear program. This negative view has discouraged many people — mostly in the West — from visiting the country. Yet there are travel connoisseurs who have explored Iran, a nation associated with names such as Persepolis and Avicenna. Reinier van Oorsouw is a filmmaker and photographer from the...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: Tensions between India and Pakistan are soaring again as New Delhi decided to rescind the special status accorded to the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir, claimed in its entirety by Pakistan, marking what some say is the most broad-ranging political move in the disputed region in nearly seven decades. Article 370 of India’s constitution granted special rights to Kashmir, including the right to its own constitution and autonomy on all matters other than defense, communications and foreign affairs. A presidential decree issued on August 5 revoked this special status, sparking fears that a drastic demographic transformation will be underway. Following the controversial decision, India dispatched thousands of...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s longest-running and most divisive conflicts. Rooted in a violent quest for territory, it has affected the Middle East landscape for decades since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when the Holy Land was divided into three parts. Efforts by consecutive US governments and other international actors to settle the disputes have so far proved ineffective. The Madrid Peace Conference of 1991, when the Israelis and Palestinians had the opportunity to engage and negotiate directly for the first time after years of confrontation, was a point in time when several sticking points between the two sides, including the actual borders of the two states, the Israeli...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: After Iran shot down a $220-million US unmanned aerial vehicle over the Strait of Hormuz on June 20, President Donald Trump said the United States was “cocked and loaded” to retaliate. He apparently rescinded his decision only 10 minutes before the attack was to be carried out, after his military advisers told him 150 people may die in such a strike. President Trump is being censured by critics for not having a clear and robust Middle East strategy. He is said to only increase the likelihood of an unwanted, new military confrontation in an already volatile region, resulting from miscalculations that appear to be inevitable when tensions run high. In a recent op-ed, the former German Foreign...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Miniature painting is a genre in Persian and Indian art that has survived the passage of time. Indo-Persian miniature painting, a common heritage of the two nations, was originally an artwork adorning text that reached its climax of glory during the 15th and 16th centuries. Miniature paintings illustrate religious, mythological or literary themes and plots. In the 17th century, miniatures mostly depicted love scenes and, in the 18th century, shifted to portray flowers and birds. Ambreen Butt is a Pakistani-American miniaturist and painter born in 1969 in the historic city of Lahore. She has been called a “leader in revitalizing the centuries-old form of” miniature. Butt received her...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: People follow different paths to find meaning for their lives. For many, religion is a way of embracing spirituality. In a world plagued by loneliness, anxiety and conflict, religion can help people find peace of mind and inner calm. Since the beginning of time, humankind has resorted to a metaphysical power in which they can find refuge and look for answers to their questions. Worshipping a deity is seen as a way of expressing their desire for truth and peace when the world appears incapable of responding to their needs. Yet, at the same time, modern world history has been marred by wars and conflicts, some of which religious violence has played a role in. In 1975, only 2% of conflicts in the...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: More than a year after the US pullout from the Iran nuclear deal, the ripple effects of President Donald Trump’s controversial decision continue to be felt across Iran and the Middle East. The Iran-US relations are cranked up to a point of unprecedented hostility and officials in both countries have been ramping up aggressive rhetoric towards the other side while a new military face-off in the region appears to be just around the corner. The Trump administration has been waging a campaign of “maximum pressure” against Iran in a bid to convince the Islamic Republic authorities to come to a new agreement with the United States addressing a broader range of issues than just Tehran’s nuclear activities....

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Malawi is one of the most impoverished nations on the planet. It is experiencing what officials describe as a “population explosion” in a society with inadequate resources. As of 2018, Malawi is the third poorest country in the world with a GDP per capita of only $342, according to the International Monetary Fund. Over 90,000 people in the landlocked African country live with HIV/AIDS, which accounts for one in 10 adults. HIV/AIDS is one of the main reasons why Malawian children become vulnerable or orphaned. The country is in dire need of advanced medical services and facilities and trained physicians, and there is only one doctor for every 50,000 individuals. Climate change and global...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: Data and figures on anti-Muslim bigotry across the world, especially in North America, paint a disturbing picture of the status of Islamic communities. Council on American-Islamic Relations recorded over 500 anti-Muslim hate crimes across the United States from January to May this year. The actual number, however, appears to be way bigger. On April 29, a mosque was assaulted and several Qurans were destroyed in Queens, New York by a 37-year-old man, who is now being indicted and can spend the next three to 15 years behind the bars if convicted. Earlier this year, on May 15, a fire tore through the Diyanet Mosque in New Haven, Connecticut, which left significant damage to the property. The New Haven police...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Ever since the 1979 revolution, Iran has been at the center stage of controversy — from the embassy siege to the nuclear deal. Today, the US government considers the country to be the world’s “leading state sponsor of terrorism” due to funding networks and operational cells globally. So, it’s not surprising that coverage of Iran in Western media is far from positive. Yet many independent journalists and writers have traveled to the country to see the daily lives of Iranians firsthand. As they’ve discovered, life is dramatically different from what Hollywood and Fox News tell us. One of these journalists is Stephan Orth, a German author who wrote “Couchsurfing in Iran: Revealing a...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: In the run-up to this year’s general election, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that he would annex large areas of the West Bank if he secured victory. The fulfillment of his promise — assuming Netanyahu wins the re-run scheduled for September after failing to form a government earlier this year — is considered by many to be yet another nail in the coffin of the elusive two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States has played a mediating role between the two warring parties, but its strong alignment with Israel has stripped it of credibility in the eyes of the Palestinians. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the US government has...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: The African continent is home to 54 countries, more than 1.2 billion people and around 2,000 languages. Its challenges and success stories are as diverse as the breadth of its landmass. In terms of GDP growth, Africa is the world’s second fastest-developing region. A 2018 report by the Overseas Development Institute projected the continent’s real GDP growth at 3.9% annually until 2022. In 2010, Rwanda was named by the World Bank as the top reformer for business, and Mauritius ranked as the most prosperous African country in the 2018 Legatum Prosperity Index, ahead of economic giants like Nigeria and South Africa. Botswana, an emerging economy that has gained a reputation for transparency, holds...