Karim Sadjadpour

Karim Sadjadpour is an American policy analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace based in Washington D.C. Previously, he was an analyst at the International Crisis Group. He is known for his expertise on Iran, and contributes frequently to public affairs programs on television and podcasts, newpaper opinion pages, magazines, and U.S. Congressional hearings.

Sadjadpour was born to Iranian parents in Midland, Michigan, where he was raised. As a frequent newspaper reader in highschool, he developed a keen interest in international relations, and became an exchange student in Veracruz, Mexico.^[1][2] In college, he spent his junior year in Italy; after graduation, he travelled the world under an award from the Circumnavigation Club, followed by employment at the National Geographic.^[3][4]

Sadjadpour graduated from Midland High School in 1995, received a B.A. at the University of Michigan, and an M.A. at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.^[5]

Sadjadpour joined the Middle East and Nonproliferation programs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2007 after four years as an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group where, as a fluent Farsi speaker based in Tehran, he had conducted interviews with hundreds of Iranian leaders, including senior officials, clerics, businessmen, intellectuals, dissidents and activists.^[6][7]

He has received a number of awards, including selection as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, a Fulbright scholarship, an Emmy Award as a Consulting Producer for the HBO documentary Hostages by the National Television Academy in 2023, and writer of a best essay of 2024 and 2025 by Foreign Affairs.^{[8][9][10][11]} As a distinguished expert on Iran, he participated in the exclusive Bilderberg Meetings in 2015^[12] and 2018.^[13]

He has testified often before the U.S. Congress,^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]} has made numerous presentations recorded on C-SPAN,^[22] and has lectured at Harvard,^[23] Stanford,^[24] and U.C.Berkeley.^[25][26][27]

Sadjadpour published an extensive profile of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2008,^[28] and has contributed regularly to publications such as The Economist,^[29] The Washington Post,^[30][31] The New York Times,^[32] The Atlantic,^[33] and Foreign Affairs.^[34]

On television, he has appeared on NBC,^[35] CBS,^[36] ABC,^{[37][38][39][40]} Fox,^[41][42] MS Now,^{[43][44][45][46]} CNBC,^[47][48][49] CNN,^{[50][51][52][53][54][55]} PBS,^{[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]} Bloomberg,^[65] and Al-Jazeera.^[66] On radio, he has appeared on NPR's Fresh Air.^[67][68]

On podcasts, he has appeared on The Rest is Politics,^[69] The Foreign Affairs Interview,^[70] Foreign Affairs Live,^[71] Hugh Hewett,^[72] The Long Game,^[73] NPR Podcasts,^[74] Call me Back Podcast - with Dan Senor,^[75][76][77] Slate,^[78] The World Unpacked,^[79] The Prof G Pod,^[80] Cleveland Clinic,^[81] The Common Good,^[82] The Council on Foreign Relations,^[83] GZERO Media,^[84] and Washington Institute,^[85] He has also appeared on podcasts sponsored by the Carnegie Institute.^{[86][87][88][89][90]}