Iran Program
Sahar Namazikhah is the Director of the Iran Program at the George Mason University’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution through Nonviolence International. She is a journalist with seventeen years of professional experience with the leading independent and nongovernmental newspapers of Iran, and subsequently in the United States. She is pursuing her PhD at George Mason’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, with a focus on conflict prevention and nonviolent movements. She directs international projects about domestic and international conflicts related to Iran. Her main concentration is on conflict prevention.
In 2005, she was selected as a Sauvé Scholar at McGill University in Canada. This prestigious award and scholarship goes to those young leaders from across the globe whose unique initiative, motivation, vision, and awareness of international and domestic issues shows a strong desire to effect and change the world. Sahar Namazikhah has published hundreds of editorials, op-eds, and analytical reports on , ethnic minorities, religious and cultural conflicts student and women’s movements, civil society, and international organizational conflicts.
She began her career in journalism when she was 19, completing her studies at the School of Journalism and receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in French Literature. She began as a political reporter at Salam daily newspaper, the only independent reformist newspaper in Iran at the time. She continued social journalism while writing her Master’s Thesis on Religions and Human Rights. She also holds a Post-Master’s Certificate in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding, focused on negotiation and conflict resolution.