Speaker Biographies
October 12, 2005
Ali Al-Taie, a professor of sociology at Shaw University, is also Dean and founder of the College of Social Sciences at Shaw University. A specialist in social movements and social change as well as race and ethnic relations, he has written several published manuscripts on the Arabs of al-Ahwaz/Khuzistan, and Arab-Iranian social issues. He is the author of Ethnic Identity Crisis in Iran (Shadegan Publisher, 2000) and Arabs Are Not Traitors (Shadegan Publisher, 1997).
Manda Zand Ervin, founder and president of the Alliance of Iranian Women, was born and raised in a middle class family in Broujerd Lorestan. She is a member of the Lorestan Zandieh Tribe. Educated in the United States with a special scholarship for women, Manda graduated and returned to Iran in 1969, at which point she was hired by the Ministry of Trade and Industries. In 1972 she became deputy managing director of International Relations, Ministry of Economics and Finance. At the time of the revolution in 1979, Manda was the managing director of the Customs Administration which made her the first woman to hold that office in Iran. After the revolution she fled to Europe and then to the United States, one year later. Once in United States, Manda became a political activist against Islamism. She has actively spoken across the world, including to the United Nations, about the issue of women and children’s human rights under Iran’s Islamic rule. A columnist and political analyst, she writes for various Persian language media, talks frequently on BBC, Radio America, NPR and VOA for both Persian and English language audiences. In 1998 she founded the Alliance of Iranian Women.
Morteza Esfandiari, a political activist since 1970, is the North American representative for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. He moved to the U.S. in 1973 and attended George Washington University. He then moved to Texas and attained his PhD in Mathematics/Information Technology. He joined the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan in 1996 and was elected as the DPIK representative for North America in 2004. As DPIK North American representative, he has worked for the rights and the plight of the Kurds of Iran as they strive for self determination.
Michael Ledeen, a resident scholar at AEI, is an expert on U.S. foreign policy. His research areas include state sponsors of terrorism, Iran, the Middle East, Europe (Italy), U.S.-China relations, intelligence, and Africa (Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe). A former consultant to the National Security Council and to the U.S. State and Defense Departments, he has also written on leadership and the use of power. He is the author of The War against the Terror Masters: Why It Happened, Where We Are Now, How We’ll Win (St. Martin's Press, 2002).
Amanollah Khan Riggi, born in Khash, province of Sistan and Baluchistan, is chief to the Riggi Tribe of some 300,000 Baluchis. In his early political career he was elected mayor of Abadan (oil and refinery city in Khuzistan) in 1960 and served one year. In 1961 he was elected Member of Parliament from Zahedan, capital of Baluchistan province, and served 4 terms of 4 years until the beginning of the 1979 revolution. During this time in Parliament, he was the Secretary of the Foreign Relations and the Finance Committees. After the revolution, Mr. Riggi left Iran and joined the principle opposition groups in London and Paris where he also formed and became chairman of the Tribal Alliance of Iran. This organization included the chiefs of the Baluchistan tribes as well as other Iranian tribes in exile, namely the Qashqais, Kurds, and Khuzistanis. Today he resides in the United States and is a member on the advisory board of the Alliance for Democracy in Iran.
Rahim Shahbazi is vice president of the Azerbaijani Societies of North America. He initiated the first Azerbaijani News Net and continued to build many websites about North and South Azerbaijan. In 1995 he became a technical officer of the Azerbaijani American Cultural Society (AACS). In 1997 he co-founded the Azerbaijani Societies of North America and has been vice president of this organization for the past 8 years.
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