Amir Taheri - Writer, Journalist, Political Analyst, was born in Iran and educated in Tehran, London and Paris.
From 1984 to 1987 he was editor-in-chief of Jeune Afrique, the French weekly specialising in Africa.
Between 1980 and 1984 he was Middle East editor for the London Sunday Times. He also wrote for the daily Times and contributed to The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Daily Mail among other leading British publications.
Between 1972 and 1979 he was executive editor-in-chief of Kayhan, Iran's main daily newspaper. He has been a columnist for the pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawsat and its sister daily Arab News since 1987.
Taheri has been a contributor to the International Herald Tribune since 1980. He has also written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and The Washington Post.
Between 1989 and 1995 Taheri was editorial writer for the German daily Die Welt. He has also written for other publications including Der Spiegel, Die Zeit and Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung in Germany, La Repubblica in Italy, L'Express, Politique Internationale and Le Nouvel Observateur in France, and El Mundo in Spain. Currently he is a contributor to the German weekly Focus.
Taheri has published nine books some of which have been translated into 20 languages.
In 1988 Publishers' Weekly in New York chose his study of Islamist terrorism, "Holy Terror", as one of The Best Books of The Year. Another of his books "The Cauldron: The Middle East Behind The Headlines" has been used as a textbook in various colleges in Britain and Canada.
Taheri was member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for International Political and Economic Studies (IIPES) from 1975 to 1980 and member of the Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI) from 1984 to 1992.
He is winner of several journalistic prizes.
Taheri is a commentator for CNN and is frequently interviewed by other media including the BBC and the RFI. He has written several TV documentaries dealing with various issues of the Muslim world.
He has interviewed many world leaders including Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Clinton, King Faisal, Mikhail Gorbachev, President Sadat, Chou En-lai, Indira Gandhi, Chancellor Helmut Kohl etc.