Karim Sadjadpour

Senior Associate
Middle East Program
Sadjadpour, a leading researcher on Iran, has conducted dozens of interviews with senior Iranian officials and hundreds with Iranian intellectuals, clerics, dissidents, paramilitaries, businessmen, students, activists, and youth, among others.
 

Education

 

MA, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
BA, University of Michigan 

 

Languages

English; Italian; Persian; Spanish

 

Karim Sadjadpour is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment. He joined Carnegie after four years as the chief Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group based in Washington and Tehran, where he conducted dozens of interviews with senior Iranian officials and hundreds with Iranian intellectuals, clerics, dissidents, paramilitaries, businessmen, students, activists, and youth, among others.

He is a regular contributor to BBC TV and radio, CNN, National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour, and Al-Jazeera, and he has appeared on the Today Show, Charlie Rose, Fox News Sunday, and the Colbert Report, among others. He contributes regularly to publications such as the Economist, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and Foreign Policy.

Frequently called upon to brief U.S., EU, and Asian officials about Middle Eastern affairs, he regularly testifies before Congress, has lectured at Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford universities, and has been the recipient of numerous academic awards, including a Fulbright scholarship.

In 2007, Sadjadpour was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos. He is a board member of the Banu Foundation, an organization dedicated to assisting grassroots organizations that are empowering women worldwide.

He has lived in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

 

  • Op-Ed Foreign Policy Association May 6, 2013
    A Candid Discussion on Iran

    If Iran were properly managed, it has the size, human capital, and natural resources to be a rising global power, not just a regional power. But Iran’s leadership has prioritized fighting the status-quo world order, rather than trying to rise within it.

  •  
  • Report April 2, 2013
    Iran’s Nuclear Odyssey: Costs and Risks

    The covert history of Iran’s nuclear program is marked by enormous financial costs, unpredictable risks, and unclear motivations.

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  • Op-Ed Council on Foreign Relations March 27, 2013
    Iran's New Year Challenges

    The Iranian leadership confronts a thicket of national and international challenges at the outset of the Persian New Year, or Nowruz, including an upcoming presidential election, simmering sectarian conflict in the region, and talks on its controversial nuclear program.

  •  
  • Op-Ed Bloomberg February 5, 2013
    Syria’s Fate Hinges on Whom It Hates Most, U.S. or Iran?

    Continued U.S. inaction in Syria risks leaving the country at the mercy of Iran and Sunni extremists—whose hatred of the United States dwarfs concerns they may have about Syrians’ well-being.

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  • Global Ten November 29, 2012
    The Iranian Nuclear Threat

    With Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei still a formidable obstacle to any binding nuclear deal,the Obama administration should focus on motivating Iran to cap its nuclear development.

  •  
  • President Obama
    Op-Ed Washington Post September 21, 2012
    What if Israel Bombed Iran? The View From Washington

    For months, Israel has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear sites. The United States has urged restraint. If such an operation were launched, how might Washington react?

  •  
  • Op-Ed New York Times August 9, 2012
    Iran Will Be Central No Matter the Outcome

    No country stands to lose more from the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria than its lone regional ally, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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  • Op-Ed New York Times July 30, 2012
    Three Decades of Mistakes and Mistrust

    In “The Twilight War,” government historian David Crist examines Washington's missed opportunities with Iran and the problematic fact that Iranians who want to talk to America can’t deliver, and those who can deliver don’t want to talk to America.

  •  
  • Op-Ed Foreign Policy April 23, 2012
    The Ayatollah Under the Bed(sheets)

    In essence, the Iranian regime's approach toward sex, like its philosophy of governance, is marked by expediency and used alternately as a tool of suppression, inducement, and incitement.

  •  
  • Op-Ed Washington Post April 6, 2012
    Iran’s Limited Escape Options

    The goal of coercive diplomacy should be to slow Iran’s nuclear progress and contain its political influence in the region until the regime is eventually transformed or changed through the weight of its internal contradictions and economic malaise.

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  • CNN February 24, 2013
    Iran's Feuding Factions

    With major factional feuding taking place within Iranian domestic politics, the Ayatollah must find a way to help to select the next president of Iran and help manage Ahmadinejad's abdication.

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  • NPR February 24, 2013
    Iran's Nuclear Program Revisited, Again

    The impasse over Iran's nuclear ambitions has dragged on for years. With a new round of negotiations coming soon, will anything be different this time around?

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  • PBS NewsHour February 7, 2013
    No Signs of 'Existential Angst' From Khamenei Despite Unprecedented Sanctions

    Despite the increasing economic pressure induced by Western sanctions, Ayatollah Khamenei has demonstrated little willingness to engage in substantive negotiations regarding the Iranian nuclear program.

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  • NPR September 28, 2012
    Should The World Brace For An Iran-Israel War?

    Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said the only way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb is to draw a clear red line.

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  • PRI's The World September 27, 2012
    Talk of a ‘Red Line’ Stirs Fears Inside Iran

    The possibility of a military action targeting Iran, along with the current economic sanctions, are creating anxiety inside the country.

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  • Syria and Iran
    C-SPAN's Washington Journal August 19, 2012
    Syria is a Zero-Sum Game for Iran

    The perpetuation of the Assad regime is critical to Iran's efforts to maintain its regional influence, and Tehran has demonstrated it will do whatever it can to aid Assad and his regime.

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  • BBC August 7, 2012
    The Iranian Role in Syria

    Syria is too important as an Iranian ally for Tehran to engage in a political transition process that would result in the ousting of the Assad regime.

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  • NPR's Diane Rehm Show July 23, 2012
    Chaos In Syria And Regional Implications

    As violence continues to spiral out of control in Syria, the United States has begun to play a larger behind the scenes role in aiding the Syrian opposition.

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  • MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports April 17, 2012
    Deescalating Tension with Iran

    Negotiations are unlikely to resolve the problems surrounding Iran’s nuclear program at this time, but they can help deescalate tensions and maintain stability between all concerned parties.

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  • Iran
    MSNBC's Morning Joe March 9, 2012
    Iran is ‘Years Away’ from a Nuclear Weapon

    Concern over Iran’s nuclear program often ignores the fact that Iran is still a significant amount of time from actually acquiring a nuclear weapon. This leaves policymakers with ample time to engage in diplomacy and develop coercive sanctions.

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Source: http://carnegieendowment.org/experts/index.cfm?fa=expert_view&expert_id=340

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