Website of Kourosh Ziabari, award-winning journalist and reporter

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: Bahrain has been in turmoil since 2011, when anti-government, pro-democracy protests swept across the island nation and were met with the government’s iron fist. The movement was mostly led by the Shia opposition of the Sunni-ruled kingdom, and put a spotlight on the rampant corruption and anti-democratic practices of the Bahraini government. Although the movement was nominally quashed in 2014, it had a significant ripple effect on the kingdom’s international credibility. In the recent years, Bahrain’s human rights record has been occasionally discussed by the media, academicians and human rights organizations, and critical observers raised valid questions as to the reasons why Bahrain’s major...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: Islamophobia in the United States animates a modern form of bigotry that was deepened following the 9/11 attacks and got worse under President Donald Trump; however, the reality of anti-Muslim prejudice in the United States is much older, dating back to the arrival of the first Muslim settlers in America in the early 14th century. According to some accounts, there are nearly 7 million Muslims living in the United States today. Despite enjoying legal protection to practice their faith freely by virtue of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, American Muslims have been mostly viewed in a cynical light since the September 11, 2001 attacks, constantly demanded to denounce terrorism and distance themselves...

Kourosh Ziabari - Chevening.org: Winning a Chevening Award to study a master’s degree in the UK is a dream come true and an impressive accolade. We are hand-picked because of our potential as future leaders and decision-makers. Those who are successful in winning a Chevening Award and finishing their degree should be looked for in the headlines and in high positions in their respective countries or international organisations. Just recently a Chevening Alumnus Carlos Alvarado Quesada was elected as President of Costa Rica. For me—an Iranian journalist and reporter—winning a Chevening Award was a tremendous achievement; something I had been dreaming of since my early years. I clearly remember writing a blog entry when I was...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Iran this week was gradually reinstating internet and cell phone data services to its 80 million people, after 10 days of an unprecedented state-imposed blackout. But the ramifications of the nationwide cuts, put in place November 16 in response to an outburst of domestic dissent over petrol taxes, and still in the process of being fully restored, are still being felt. Academics and businessmen, web developers and travel agencies, journalists and startups were among those professions and sectors most impacted by the shutdown, during which time Amnesty International reported more than 100 protesters were killed. Hojjat Mehrabi, a member of a product managing team at Aparat, an Iranian video sharing...

Kourosh Ziabari - Lobelog: “Throughout history the secret to success has been love, freedom, and justice. … Building a better tomorrow filled with freedom, justice, and love is the goal of every nation. We should all strive to achieve this goal. … The search for freedom, justice, peace, and security is only possible if there is freedom of choice. … Liberty cannot be limited, confined, or negotiated. It is a common human principle.” These words are not parts of the UN Charter or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are excerpts from tweets posted by Iran’s former firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the course of past months. Ahmadinejad’s comments inarguably earned him renewed public attention at a time...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Two high-ranking clerics in Iran have issued fatwas against the production of a movie based on the life of the 13th century Iranian poet and mystic Rumi and his spiritual mentor Shams Tabrizi, reigniting a long-simmering, divisive debate about the role of religious authorities in the public life of Iranians. Born in 1207, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi is a celebrated Persian poet, theologian and Islamic scholar whose didactic epic Masnavi-yi Maʿnavi (Spiritual Couplets), comprising six books of poetry that amount to 25,000 verses or 50,000 lines, has enormously influenced mystical thought and literature throughout the Muslim world and is commonly referred to as the “Persian Quran.” Rumi, known as...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: The World Happiness Report published by the United Nations in March this year identified Norway as the world’s third happiest country. The Scandinavian nation is doing remarkably well when it comes to key variables that influence well-being, such as income, freedom, trust, life expectancy, social support and generosity. One of the wealthiest nations in the world, Norway offers free education, public pensions and universal health care to its residents and has made exemplary accomplishments in tackling inequality, unemployment and illiteracy. Norway is seen as a model in the developing world, including in Western Europe and North America, given the remarkable strides it has made in becoming an...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: One of the world’s most enduring and tragic wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appears to be at an impasse well into its 71st year, and the dream of a two-state solution seems to be in retreat with Israel refusing to suspend its controversial settlement enterprise and fulfill its obligations as the occupying power. According to Israel-Palestine Timeline, at least 9,940 Palestinians, including 2,172 children, have been killed by Israeli forces since 2000. As reported by the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, 4,787 Palestinian security detainees and prisoners are being held in Israel Prison Service (IPS) facilities. Many of these captives are behind bars for entering...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Democracy is on the decline. In 2018, the Freedom in the World report published by Freedom House recorded the 12th consecutive year of retreating global freedom. This included established democracies like the United States as well as authoritarian countries such as China and Russia. In the US, the situation is particularly worrying as a populist president appears to be damaging the country’s democracy through his divisive rhetoric, his contempt for the rule of law and his fiery attacks on the media and his critics. President Donald Trump’s incendiary language and his aggressive comments about immigrants, Muslims and Mexicans have emboldened white nationalists. Law enforcement authorities...

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...