Meir Javedanfar () is an Iranian-born

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

commentator and academic. He left

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1987 and now lives in Israel. He has worked as a foreign affairs commentator at

BBC Persian BBC Persian () is the Persian language broadcast station and subsidiary of BBC World Service which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Iran and the world. Its headquarters are in London, United Kingdom. Pe ...

. With

Yossi Melman Yossi Melman (; born December 27, 1950) is an Israeli writer and journalist. He was an intelligence and strategic affairs correspondent for the ''Haaretz'' newspaper, and in 2013 he joined ''The Jerusalem Post'' and its Hebrew sister paper ''Maari ...

, he co-authored ''The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran''.

Early life and education

Meir Javedanfar was born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

to a family from

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

. He studied at the Ettefegh and Abrishami Jewish day schools in Tehran and for one year at the Shahid Mohammad Baqir Sadr Muslim day school in his neighborhood of Gisha. Eight months after his bar mitzvah in Tehran, in March 1987, Javedanfar's family moved to the United Kingdom as Jewish refugees from Iran. Between 1992 and 1995, he studied a Business and Management studies B.Sc. at

Salford University The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

. From 1995-1996, Javedanfar studied the MA International Relations and Strategic Studies course at

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

. His MA thesis was entitled "Israeli Motivations for Military Intervention in Lebanon: 1982 to Date (1996)". From 1997-1998, Javedanfar studied the MSc Manufacturing and Management Information Systems course at the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

. His MSc thesis was based on analysing the Information Technology systems of the Czech civilian aircraft manufacturer

Let Kunovice Aircraft Industries, a.s.,Contacts
" Let Kunovice. Retrieved on 19 May 2011. "Aircraft Industries, a.s. Na Záhonech 1177 ...

. As part of his research, he lived for three months in the Czech city of

Uherské Hradiště Uherské Hradiště (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. The agglomeration with the two neighbouring towns of Staré Město (Uherské Hradiště District), Staré Město and Kunovice has over ...

South Moravia The South Moravian Region (; , ; ), or just South Moravia, is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia. The region's capital is Brno, th ...

. In May 2022, Javedanfar completed his PhD at

Haifa University The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an indepen ...

. His PhD thesis examined

Mohammad Reza Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution, which ...

's security decision-making in relation to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Career

In 2004, Javedanfar moved to Israel, and in 2005 he established a company, Middle East Economic and Political Analysis (MEEPAS), which he ran until 2019. Since 2005, Javedanfar has published articles on Iran and Israel in several publications, including ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

'', ''

Al-Monitor ''Al-Monitor'' is a news website launched in 2012 by the Arab-American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel. Based in Washington, D.C., ''Al-Monitor'' provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East. ''Al-Monitor'' is the recipient of the I ...

'', ''

The Diplomat A diplomat is someone who represents a government in its relations with other governments. It may also refer to: Diplomat, the Diplomat or the Diplomats may refer to: Media * ''The Diplomat'' (magazine), a Washington, D.C. online foreign affa ...

'', and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Javedanfar has taught various Iran-related courses at

Reichman University Reichman University () is Israel's only private university, located in Herzliya, Tel Aviv District. It was founded in 1994 as the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC Herzliya, ) private college, before being rebranded in 2021. It receives n ...

since 2012 and has appeared as a guest lecturer in more than 20 universities and colleges. Since 2022, he has been a non-resident fellow at the

Middle East Institute The Middle East Institute (MEI) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, D.C., founded in 1946. It seeks to "increase knowledge of the Middle East among the United States citizens and promote a better understan ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He speaks Persian, Hebrew, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Books

* Javedanfar, Meir and Melman, Yossi. ''The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and The State of Iran'', Carroll & Graf, March 1, 2007. Translated into English, Hebrew, Dutch and Polish. * Javedanfar, Meir. "The Islamic Republic of Iran: The Ministry of Information and Security (VAVAK)" chapter in book series ''PSI Handbook of Global Security and Intelligence: National Approaches'', Praeger, April 30, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Javedanfar, Meir Living people Iranian emigrants to Israel Iranian Jews Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli radio journalists Year of birth missing (living people)