Beirut

Borzou Daragahi, Bureau Chief

Borzou Daragahi has covered war, politics, culture and commerce in the Middle East for print and broadcast outlets since 2002, joining the Times in 2005. He was among the staffers who won a 2006 Overseas Press Club award and was twice recognized for Iraq coverage as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005 and 2007. He is a graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and the Eugene Lang College of the New School for Social Research. He speaks Farsi, Spanish and German. Born in Iran, he grew up in the Chicago area and New York City. He speaks Farsi, Spanish and German. EMAIL


By Borzou Daragahi
The midranking cleric urges the government to reach out to protesters, even as a top military official warns that troops are willing to sacrifice their lives to quell unrest.
July 11, 2009

Iranian exile speaks out against militia he once supported
COLUMN ONE
By Borzou Daragahi
Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a former child fighter and political prisoner, says Iran's bloody crackdown on protesters prompted him to 'out' ex-colleagues in Ansar-e Hezbollah who took part in the beatings.
July 9, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Clotilde Reiss has been fascinated by Iran since she was a child. Now she finds herself in the notorious Evin Prison, accused of espionage, a charge her friends call absurd.
July 8, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
The statement by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's party heightens the confrontation between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's camp and supporters of reformist challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
July 7, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
'We declare that the result is unacceptable due to the unhealthy voting process,' the Kargozaran party says.
July 6, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Calling the move 'a new phase of the revolution,' leaders insist there is no room for compromise on President Ahmadinejad's reelection.
July 6, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Opposition candidate's supporters describe plans in a reformist newspaper. Iranian officials release a jailed European journalist and a lawyer says a British Embassy worker will be freed soon.
July 6, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
The opposition figure is accused of acting on behalf of Iran's foreign enemies. In response, Mousavi releases a detailed account of alleged voting irregularities in last month's election.
July 5, 2009

Iran's Ahmadinejad faces diplomatic isolation
By Jeffrey Fleishman and Borzou Daragahi
After a disputed election and crackdown on protesters, the Iranian president maybe be feted in some anti-U.S. corners, but he faces slights and snubs from other nations.
July 3, 2009

Nuclear watchdog IAEA elects Japanese diplomat as its leader
By Julia Damianova and Borzou Daragahi
Japan's Yukiya Amano is the winner in a months-long competition against a South African to head the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is believed to agree with the U.S. stance on Iran.
July 3, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
The man, mistakenly detained, was crammed into a cell with hundreds of others seized in the election unrest. They were threatened by a pistol-wielding young man and interrogated. Some were beaten.
July 2, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says unspecified foes caused the turmoil in which hundreds of thousands of Iranians protested alleged election fraud. A reformist group calls for an end to demonstrations.
July 1, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
The Guardian Council, after a recount of 10% of the vote, deems President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection valid. Contender Mir-Hossein Mousavi's supporters vow to continue struggle.
June 30, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
As supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi shout out their support in Tehran, European leaders voice anger at the Saturday arrests of eight British Embassy staffers.
June 29, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
The Iranian president says President Obama's 'meddlesome' stance on protesters makes direct talks between their governments unlikely.
June 28, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Iranians who demonstrated against the election results are not moving on. They are biding their time, weighing their options -- and seeing their government in a dramatically different light.
June 28, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says criticism of Tehran's crackdown on dissenters was 'abnormal and discourteous.'
June 27, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami says those involved in 'destructive acts' during postelection protests are enemies of God and 'should receive the severest of the punishments.'
June 27, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
'She was with us,' says one man of the woman shot dead during protests. 'Maybe one of us would have been killed that day.' Many come to the grave, despite tight security and the glares of police.
June 26, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Opposition leader Mousavi speaks out after days of quiet, blasting the supreme leader and state-controlled media. He pledges to continue his campaign to have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection annulled.
June 26, 2009

By Ramin Mostaghim
The Guardian Council, which is overseeing the probe into allegations of vote fraud, says it needs more time for 'meticulousness.' The council earlier said Ahmadinejad would be sworn in by mid-August.
June 24, 2009

Family, friends mourn 'Neda,' Iranian woman who died on video
By Borzou Daragahi
Neda Agha-Soltan, 26, 'was a beam of light' and not an activist, friends say. The video footage of her bleeding on the street has turned her into an international symbol of the protest movement.
June 23, 2009

Iran authorities say disputed vote count will stand
By Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi
Guardian Council says it can find no evidence of 'major' irregularities in the presidential election. Meanwhile, a special court is being set up to try 'plotters and hooligans' involved in protests.
June 23, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim and Kim Murphy
Some wonder how far Iran's opposition leader is willing to go. They note that as premier, he was sidelined by his inability to play factional politics. Backers say he is an open-minded technocrat.
June 22, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi and Jeffrey Fleishman
But the eldest daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Faezeh, was not among those released, Press TV says. Rafsanjani is a key opposition figure.
June 21, 2009

By Jeffrey Fleishman and Ramin Mostaghim
The Guardian Council questions 3 million votes but says they won't change the outcome. Relatives of opposition figure Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani are briefly detained. Western officials say the death toll could be as high as 100.
June 22, 2009

DISPATCH FROM TEHRAN
By Borzou Daragahi
Calls of 'God is great!' from losing opposition presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi's backers ricochet around a city block despite warnings against further protest.
June 20, 2009

By Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech defending vote results. Opposition leaders vow to march today in defiance, setting the stage for a potentially violent clash.
June 20, 2009

Iran treads lightly in a culture of martyrs
NEWS ANALYSIS
By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
A Tiananmen-style massacre there would create a new set of heroes for the protest movement.
June 18, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
Both sides stage massive gatherings. At least 12 people have been killed in the unrest over the disputed presidential election that kept Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in office.
June 17, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
The supreme leader orders the hard-line Guardian Council to examine challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi's claims of fraud in the vote reelecting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Seven protesters are killed.
June 16, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
The throngs defied Interior Ministry warnings that protesters would be beaten or worse. 'Mousavi! Mousavi!' they chanted, in support of the challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rampant voter fraud is alleged.
June 15, 2009

DISPATCH FROM TEHRAN
By Borzou Daragahi
A bag that an activist left with strangers during a Tehran protest against election results leads to an interview in which she recounts a frantic search for her brother and beatings by police.
June 15, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Official results show the leader with more than 63% of the vote, a figure an opponent calls 'ridiculous.' Rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi is reportedly put under house arrest.
June 14, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
His main challenger, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, disputes the election results, and his supporters clash with police in Tehran. The vote outcome may have broad consequences for U.S. foreign policy.
June 13, 2009

If Obama gambit works, Tehran's hard-liners would suffer, Iranian says
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
By Borzou Daragahi
Political scientist Sadegh Zibakalam is an independent observer in Iran of U.S.-Iranian relations. Rapprochement with Washington would undermine dominant conservatives' worldview, he says.
April 7, 2009

FOREIGN EXCHANGE
By Borzou Daragahi
Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani talks about reducing death squad infiltration, bolstering intelligence and dealing with Iran.
March 31, 2009

FOREIGN EXCHANGE
By Borzou Daragahi
Drawing the public eye to what is usually private puts pornography in a new light and changes its tone.
March 25, 2009

Dispatch from Iran
By Borzou Daragahi
In rural Iran, as agrarian-centered life erodes and attitudes toward government change, some wonder what the Islamic Revolution brought them, especially as they see some sections prospering.
February 10, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
After weeks of rumors, the former president, considered a moderate, made the formal announcement that he will run against incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
February 9, 2009

By Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi
A confidant to Iran's former president says Mohammad Khatami will challenge President Ahmadinejad now that another prominent moderate appears to have backed out.
February 2, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Public protests against Israel have grown larger, and officials of the staunch U.S. ally have strongly criticized the Jewish state and begun to hedge their bets diplomatically.
January 14, 2009

By Borzou Daragahi
Palestinians in the Shatila camp express anger toward Israel over its Gaza offensive, but they differ as to where the rest of the blame belongs.
December 31, 2008

Hezbollah warlord was an enigma
By Borzou Daragahi and Sebastian Rotella
Imad Mughniyah, alleged mastermind of infamous terrorist attacks, was one of the most hunted men in the world. His death is as mysterious as his life.
August 31, 2008

In a well-publicized tour of his country's neighbor, President Ahmadinejad smiles and spreads his message across Baghdad: America doesn't belong here; Iran does.
March 4, 2008

By Borzou Daragahi and Julian E. Barnes
Tehran maintains that nothing more than routine contact occurred in the strait.
January 11, 2008

By Borzou Daragahi
The power of Shiite Muslim clergy has eroded in favor of various competing groups within a unique religious, civil, social and bureaucratic framework.
December 31, 2007

By Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi
Pointing to the conclusion that Tehran's secret nuclear arms program halted years ago, officials ask Washington to apologize.
December 5, 2007

COLUMN ONE
By Borzou Daragahi
Of Iran's 27,000 attorneys, perhaps no more than 100 take politically charged cases. They brave insults, assaults and jail.
November 27, 2007