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Karim Sadjadpour

Last week I went to see Karim Sadjadpour[1] give a lecture at Berkeley. Karim Sadjadpour is an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Religion, Politics, and Globalization Program at UC Berkeley sponsored the event. Sajadpour is an articulate and approachable young man. He presented his analysis of what he thinks is happening in Iran. More than an academic presentation on the politics of Iran, I found his presentation insightful and loving of Iran and the people of Iran. He made sharp observations about the Iranian culture and how it affects political negotiations. The audience connected well with him, and he did an exceptionally good job of answering questions, which always makes me feel good at the end of a lecture.

I am continually amazed with the younger generation of Iranians who live, study, and work abroad. They are free of the more intense emotions my generation seems to have about Iran, which could be a very positive thing. My generation was displaced and faced with hardships after the Revolution. This generation, however, were either born into the Islamic state, learning quickly how to navigate their way through its labyrinths of dual, public and private lives, or were born and raised outside of Iran, where they didn’t have to face the obstacles we, as first generation immigrants had to endure. As a generation, they are more objective and less emotional, which helps them be more focused on issues, and that’s important, I think. Sadjadpour was fair, confident, and affectionate towards both Iran and US, obviously preoccupied with finding a way out of the web of misunderstandings and misconceptions. I am glad for that preoccupation and believe that more people need to be preoccupied by the issue. This was a real treat for me.

[1] View his profile here: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/experts/index.cfm?fa=expert_view&expert_id=340 . You will notice that the photo he has in his dossier there is a lot better than the one I took, the difference being that this is my handiwork!