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VOA's Flashpoint Iran podcast features news and analysis about the Islamic Republic's suppression of domestic dissent, sensitive nuclear activities, as well as involvement in regional and international conflicts and tensions.
75 Episodes
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UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer on whether the UN Human Rights Council will extend the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran when the mission’s term expires next month. Rights activist and VOA Persian ‘Tablet’ program host Masih Alinejad on the significance of recent online videos showing women in Iran confronting clerics who berate them for showing their hair in public. Iranian dissident academic Farshid Nowrouzi Roshnavand, a former professor at the University of Mazandaran, on his ideas for bringing accountability to those purging Iran’s universities of dissent.
VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb on U.S. military highlighting importance of interdicting Iranian weapons supplies to Yemen’s Houthis. German Institute for Global and Area Studies researcher Sara Bazoobandi on why many Iranians are resorting to desperate methods to obtain food as inflation soars. Former University of Mazandaran professor Farshid Nowrouzi-Roshnavand on how he was pushed out of his job last year as part of Iran’s purge of dissent in academia and forced into exile in France. France24 journalist Ershad Alijani on Iran escalating a crackdown on Instagram users who sell goods and services deemed un-Islamic.
GAMAAN (the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran) director Ammar Maleki on why the Islamic republic is asserting its uncompetitive March 1 elections drew a 41% turnout that opposition activists say is inflated. German Institute for Global and Area Studies researcher Sara Bazoobandi on how she tracks Iran’s inflation crisis. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Taylor on how Washington visit of Iraqi Kurdish leader Masrour Barzani helps U.S. to counter Iran’s proxy militias. VOA Persian executive editor Niusha Boghrati on his recent documentary featuring insights into Iran’s supply of drones for Russia’s two-year invasion of Ukraine.
Independent Persian chief editor Camelia Entekhabifard on why many voters in Iran were apathetic ahead of March 1 parliamentary elections. VOA Persian managing editor Arash Sigarchi on Tehran’s Revolutionary Court convicting him and 10 other VOA Persian journalists in absentia for alleged propaganda crimes after a secret trial. U.N. Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in Iran Javaid Rehman on why he is optimistic as he prepares to end his six-year mandate in a few months. Iranian American entrepreneur and attorney Rumi Parsa on why U.S. social media giants Meta and X penalized Iranian government accounts this month, one year after he sued them in U.S. federal court to take such action.
Center for Middle East and Global Order security analyst Shahin Modarres on how saboteurs were able to strike major gas pipelines in western Iran on Feb. 14. U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking on Iran’s connection to Red Sea shipping attacks by Yemen’s Houthis. Swedish-Israeli-American activist Saskia Pantell on what she wants Sweden to do about an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate her and two other Swedish Jews. American University sociologist Jessica Emami on why Iran’s disgruntled workers and retirees have been able to stage frequent small-scale protests across the country in recent days.
Atlantic Council senior fellow Holly Dagres on the Islamic republic’s veneer of victory as it marks the 45th anniversary of its seizure of power. VOA Persian executive editor Niusha Boghrati on how VOA secured discreet on-camera interviews with young adults inside Iran about the Islamic revolution anniversary. Former Israeli national security adviser and Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior fellow Eyal Hulata on whether Iran is ready to rein in its proxy Hezbollah as Western powers try to mediate a truce in Israel-Lebanon border clashes.
1VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb on why the U.S. has not released details of casualties from its Feb. 2 strikes on Iranian and Iranian proxy targets in Iraq and Syria four days later. Brookings Institution foreign policy research director Michael O’Hanlon on the effectiveness of the latest U.S. strikes in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. United for Iran managing director Kevin Schumacher on the controversial visit of U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif to Iran last weekend. International Women’s Media Foundation executive director Elisa Lees Muñoz on lingering concerns about the fate of Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi after their Jan. 14 release from prison on bail.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Adam Clements, a former U.S. Army attaché to Jordan, on why that country appears to be trying to avoid antagonizing Iran in response to Iranian proxies’ deadly Jan. 28 attack on U.S. troops at a Jordanian base. Atlantic Council analyst Omer Ozkizilcik on how Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s Jan. 24 visit to Turkey and meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will affect the long-running tensions between the two regional powers. Marjan Keypour, founder of Iran-focused group Alliance for Rights of All Minorities, on what is behind Iran’s growing suicide rate.
Mohammad Ghobadlou was executed by Iran on Tuesday. Authorities alleged he killed a police officer in 2022. VOA Persian’s Kambiz Tavana spoke with Clara Bunger, a member of Germany’s Parliament about his case. A thwarted Iranian plot to assassinate two journalists working for a Persian TV network in London has renewed focus on the ways hostile governments try to target critics outside their jurisdiction. VOA Press Freedom reporter Liam Scott shares the report. A group of international film organizations and filmmakers is raising the alarm about Iran’s treatment of two prominent directors barred from leaving the country. U.S.-based Iranian filmmaker and actress Mary Apick discusses.
Iran unleashes aerial strikes on perceived enemies in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria in a 24-hour period. Eurasia Group’s Gregory Brew on the effectiveness of U.S. and British strikes on Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran group’s Shiva Mahbobi on how four Kurdish political prisoners whose death sentences were upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court could win a reprieve. Iran International’s Maryam Sinaiee how northern Iran fishmonger Sadegh Bagheri, who charmed Instagram users with a song and dance routine, overcame government efforts to silence him.
Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Aaron Zelin on how the Islamic State terror group managed to stage Jan. 3 Kerman suicide bomb attack that was Iran’s worst since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel Law Center - Shurat HaDin president and attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner on her plan to sue Iran and North Korea in the U.S. court system for colluding to arm Hamas terrorists that attacked Israel in October. Iran International English web correspondent Maryam Sinaiee on how Sadegh Bagheri, a 73-year-old fishmonger in the northern Iranian city of Rasht, went from obscurity in November to become an international Instagram influencer with his viral song and dance.
Former U.S. National Intelligence Manager for Iran Norman Roule on U.S. and Britain toughening their responses to attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Red Sea shipping. Check Point Software Technologies’ Gil Messing on last month’s escalation in cyber attacks on infrastructure in Iran and Israel with each side blaming the other. Independent environmental journalist Sanam Mahoozi on how December’s dangerous air pollution levels in Iran’s big cities affect health, livelihoods of Iranians.
U.S. military responds to Iranian proxy attacks in Iraq and the Red Sea on Dec. 26. Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Noam Raydan on the commercial shipping impact of the Houthis’ Red Sea strikes. Iran analyst and former Iran International host Sima Sabet on the ITV report uncovering an alleged IRCG plot to assassinate her. National Council of Resistance of Iran’s Ali Safavi on whether more Iranian officials will face justice after Sweden upholds a life sentence against Hamid Noury for Iran’s 1988 mass killings of political prisoners.
Atlantic Council’s Ambassador Nathan Sales on U.S. forming multinational security force to protect commercial shipping in Red Sea from attacks by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. U.S. nonprofit group Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists’ Lawdan Bazargan on Oberlin College’s suspension of Iranian professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, a former Iranian ambassador to the U.N. Kurdish Community in Germany’s Schilan Kurdpoor on why Iranian security forces are escalating shootings of Kolbars, Iranian Kurds who carry goods into Iran from across the Iraqi border.
Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Pregent on latest attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on commercial shipping and by Iran’s other proxies on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria. University of Toronto international law professor Payam Akhavan on attending Dec. 10 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Iran’s jailed rights icon Narges Mohammadi. German parliament member Ye-One Rhie on reenergizing her campaign to free Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi after Iranian authorities re-arrested him last month.
Israel Missile Defense Organization founder Uzi Rubin on how Iran has helped its Houthi and Hamas proxies to improve their missile and rocket capabilities. German European Parliament member Hannah Neumann on Iran’s re-arrest of dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi and her plans to attend Nobel peace prize ceremony for Iran’s jailed rights activist Narges Mohammadi on Dec. 10. Former Israeli lawmaker Ruth Wasserman Lande on how Israelis have supported Iran’s Woman-Life-Freedom protests. Persian Israeli security researcher Beni Sabti on hosting new Israeli government video news program in Persian language, Daily Briefing Farsi.
U.S. Defense Department Press Secretary Patrick Ryder on Iranian proxies’ lull in attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb on what her sources say about reasons for the lull. Israeli foreign ministry public diplomacy official Emmanuel Nahshon on Iran’s apparent coercion of its minority Jews into staging anti-Israel protests last month. Palestinian Authority Social Development Minister Ahmed Majdalani on Iran using its Palestinian proxies as a tool to seek the destruction of Israel. Water issues researcher Nik Ahang Kowsar on Iran’s parliament urging the government to do more to prevent floods plaguing the country.
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on signs that Iran and Russia are poised to boost military ties. The Institute for Science and International Security’s David Albright on how the IAEA governing board might react to Iran’s latest defiance of international demands for transparency in its nuclear program. VOA Persian’s Saghi Laghaei on witness accounts of Iran’s increasing harassment of women who refuse to wear a mandatory hijab. Iranian-American activist Sarah Raviani on how she helped to build a coalition of advocates for tougher U.S. sanctions on Iran’s Islamist rulers.
Middle East Forum’s Jonathan Spyer on why Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies are maintaining daily low-level attacks against northern Israel after five weeks of war. Iranian Americans on why they participated in the March for Israel rally in Washington. Iranian American activist Sarah Raviani on the status of congressional legislation to tighten U.S. sanctions on Iran’s Islamist rulers. Baha’i International Community’s Simin Fahandej on what is behind a surge in Iran’s arrests of minority Baha’is.
Chatham House’s Sanam Vakil on what is behind Iran’s latest coordination with Hamas and Hezbollah as they battle Israel. Journalist Karmel Melamed and other Iranian American Jews in Los Angeles, California, speak out on Iran’s apparent coercion of its Jewish minority into staging anti-Israel rallies in five cities on Oct. 30. Iran Human Rights group’s Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam on how he tracked Iran’s surge in executions in first 10 months of this year.
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