Mr. Amir Taheri

Mr. Amir Taheri, author, journalist, political analyst, cultural and literary critic, is the recipient of a Lifetime Nowruz Award in the field of journalism and communication sciences for:

• • Lifelong tireless efforts as a modern author and journalist in Iran and in exile

• • Commitment to journalism, and emphasis on concrete facts and reliable documents for writing, analysis, and critique

• • Authoring of ten successful books related to sensitive issues in the last few decades of Iran in Farsi and English

• • Writing hundreds of lasting articles and reviews of political, literary, and artistic books

• • Constant attention to human rights violations in Iran and writings on them in the popular European and American press

• • Utmost attention to the brilliant culture and history of Iran in his writings for various Iranian and non-Iranian publications

• • To say that Amir Taheri is the most important journalist in the history of Iran is not an exaggeration. It has been less than 200 years since we came across something called “modern journalism.” During this period, especially after the revolution, we have had a large number of good journalists who continued their work after they immigrated to other countries or have been forced to live in exile. We however have had only a few men and women who have written in languages other than Farsi and for magazines and papers or have been active as a journalist in radio and television of other countries. None of them have had the position that Amir Taheri has had as an Iranian journalist.

• • Amir Taheri started his career as a writer, translator and journalist well before the revolution in Iran, working in widely circulated newspapers for over 40 years. He has also worked as a successful journalist, widely published author, and a liberal political analyst outside Iran, working with international publications and in countries around the world. Taheri’s articles published in the international press have not only covered Iran’s issues and topics. Rather, he has been able to speak and write well and publish widely as a writer, a capable political analyst, and a good journalist on important European and American issues.

• • One of Taheri’s admirable values ​​is that in spite of all his great success outside Iran, he has never lost touch with his native country. He has been a vocal critic on every occasion to convey to the world the cries of Iranian people which are otherwise ignored, even in the presence of many journalists from abroad for various reasons.

• • Amir Taheri, like many social people, has his own political beliefs which he has never hidden in order to please others. However, he has not included them in his writings and analysis, as his writings and analysis have always been based on existing facts, clear and undeniable documents. In addition, he has never forgotten the humane and moral virtues that some journalists have forgotten in order to please readers or catch viewer’s attention.

• • Amir Taheri is an example of a brilliant and modern journalist who still embraces Iranian culture beautifully and lovingly.

• • The Pasargad Heritage Foundation is proud to present its “Nowruz Award” to Mr. Amir Taheri for his lifetime achievement.

Biography of Mr. Amir Taheri.

• • Amir Taheri was born in Ahvaz, southwest Iran and educated in Tehran, London and Paris. He started his journalistic life by editing his school magazine, Sepideh Sadaf in 1955-58 before becoming a contributor to a number of publications including the literary magazine Ashna, the “pocket-magazine” Bamshad, and the weeklies Roshanfekr and Omid Iran.

• • Between 1967 and 1968 he was Cultural Editor of the English-language daily Kayhan International before being named the paper’s Political Editor for almost four years.

• • From 1972 to 1979 he was the executive editor-in-chief of Kayhan, Iran’s main daily newspaper.

• • Between 1980 and 1984 he was Middle East editor for the London Sunday Times. He also wrote for the Daily Times and contributed to The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Daily Mail among other leading British publications. From 1984 to 1987 he was editor-in-chief of Jeune Afrique, the French weekly specializing in Africa. He has been a columnist for the pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawsat and its sister daily Arab News since 1987. Taheri was a contributor to the International Herald Tribune between 1980 and 1992. Between 2003 and 2018 he was a columnist for The New York Post. He has also written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and The Washington Post. Between 1989 and 1995. Taheri has also been an editorial writer for the German daily Die Welt.

• • Furthermore, as a syndicated columnist, he has written for other publications including Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung, La Repubblica, L’Express, Politique Internationale, Le Nouvel Observateur, and El Mundo in Spain.  He was also a contributor to the German weekly Focus for almost ten years. Taheri has published twelve books. In 1988 Publishers’ Weekly in New York chose his study of Islamist terrorism, Holy Terror, as one of the Best Books of The Year. Some of his books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Between 1974 and 1979 he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Institute for International Political and Economic Studies in Tehran and Chairman of the board of the Iran Computer magazine. Between 1982 and 2000 he served as a member of the Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI) and its liaison officer with UNESCO in Paris.

• • In 1984 he helped launch the weekly Kayhan in London and worked as its Editor-in-Chief for a year. In 1988-89 he was a political advisor on Afghanistan to the UN Secretary-General Xavier Perez de Cuellar and chaired a series of seminars on Afghan issues in Geneva, Paris, and New York. As a journalist, he has interviewed dozens of world leaders, among them the Shah of Iran, US presidents, British prime ministers, Arab monarchs, and presidents, as well as Chinese and Soviet leaders.

• • Taheri has been Chairman of Gatestone Institute Europe, a public policy group since 2008. He has won a number of prizes for his journalism and was named International Journalist of the Year in 2012 by The Society of British Newspaper Editors.

• • Since leaving for exile in 1979 he has lived and worked in Paris and London with frequent visits to the Middle East, The United States, Russia, China, and The European Union nations.