About

Mohsen Sazegara is an Iranian political activist, journalist and researcher. He was one of the founders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the 1979 revolution and later served in government. He broke with the regime, founded reformist newspapers that were shut down, and was imprisoned. Since leaving Iran he has become one of the Islamic Republic's leading critics and an advocate of nonviolent struggle for democracy, secular government and human rights in Iran.

For years he has published a weekly video talk in Persian on Iran's politics, economy and society, and on lessons from democratic movements around the world.

About this site

This is the English edition of sazegara.com. It brings together:

• Talks: his weekly talks, each with a full English translation of what he says, timed to the video.
• Articles: his Persian essays in English translation, and articles he wrote in English for other publications.
• Interviews: his interviews in English- and Persian-language media, each with an English summary.
• Ask: an AI assistant that answers questions from his talks and writing. Its answers are not his own words and may contain mistakes.

The translations are made with AI from the Persian originals and may contain errors; the Persian texts on sazegara.com are authoritative. New talks are added and translated automatically as they are published.

Profiles

• The Washington Institute for Near East Policy: visiting fellow, 2005–2009
• Middle East Institute
• George W. Bush Presidential Center, Freedom Collection: video interview, 2010
• U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs: witness biography, 2015
• C-SPAN