NIACast

Ambassador John Limbert's New Novel, "Believers: Love and Death in Tehran"

Assal and Mana sat down with NIAC Advisory Board Member Ambassador John Limbert to discuss his new novel with co-author Ambassador Marc Grossman, Believers: Love and Death in Tehran. Though a tale of fiction, Limbert brings his knowledge of Iran's history, language, and culture, as well as his own experience as one of 52 American hostages held by Iranian students in 1979, to this engrossing spy novel set in Iran at the outset of the U.S. embassy seizure. Share your comments with Ambassador Limbert at podcast@niacouncil.org and get your copy of Believers here.

Paul Pillar: Sabotage in Iran and the CIA's New Powers

Jamal and Sina sit down with veteran CIA analyst Paul Pillar to discuss the mysterious explosions that continue to rock Iran and new revelations of authorizations granted to the Agency to wage offensive cyber operations and conduct what some say is a campaign aimed at destabilizing the country.

 

Read more:

• Paul Pillar for National Interest, "The Undeclared War With Iran"
• Yahoo News, "Exclusive: Secret Trump order gives CIA more powers to launch cyberattacks"

Councilwoman Mitra Jalali on Black Lives Matter & anti-Blackness in the Iranian-American Community

Mana and Assal sat down with Saint Paul Councilwoman, organizer, and former teacher Mitra Jalali one month after the brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of police. Mitra spoke of her own experience as a Councilwoman close to the site of Floyd's murder and protests and the responsibility of non-Black Iranian Americans to support Black Lives Matter and confront the anti-Blackness within our own community.

 

Follow Mitra on Twitter @mitrajunjalali and check out this helpful post on Persian terms to talk about anti-Blackness here.

NIAC Live: A Maximum Pressure Exit Strategy

NIAC's new report, "Returning to and Building on the Iran Nuclear Deal: A Maximum Pressure Exit Strategy," outlines how the U.S. can get back to the JCPOA and back to the table with Iran to resolve bilateral and regional challenges -- either under a Biden Administration or a reformed Trump Administration.

This launch event features Joe Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund, Suzanne DiMaggio of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NIAC President Jamal Abdi, and is hosted by France 24 Senior Journalist Sanam Shantyaei. 

>> Read the report

>> Watch the event on Youtube

Book Talk: "My Mom Killed Michael Jackson" with Shokoofeh Rajabzadeh

In our final chat with authors featured in "My Shadow is My Skin: Voices from the Iranian Diaspora," Mana and Assal sit down with Shokoofeh Rajabzadeh. Her essay, "My Mom Killed Michael Jackson," explores her travels to Iran and a personal story of longing for a place that is at once familiar, yet out of reach.

Get "My Shadow is My Skin at your local bookstore or here. And check more of Shokoofeh's writing at https://medium.com/@alwaysnotquite1.