Now 9 months into the presidency of Joe Biden, the United States continues to stay out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal to which Iran, Russia, China, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom still adhere. Violating both international norms and his own campaign promises, President Biden has wasted time and threatened to scotch one of Barack Obama’s greatest foreign policy achievements. Advocates for peace and justice have been left scratching their heads, wondering what the solution is to an intransigent administration.

Joining us to discuss next steps for the Peace Movement and the overall state of US-Iran relations is Dr. Assal Rad, Senior Research Fellow at the National Iranian American Council.

Dr. Assal Rad graduated with a PhD in Middle Eastern History from the University of California, Irvine in 2018. Her PhD research focused on Modern Iran, with an emphasis on national identity formation and identity in post-revolutionary Iran. With this background, Assal works with the policy team on research and writing related to Iran policy issues and U.S.-Iran relations.

Assal joined the National Iranian American Council in January 2019. After working with NIAC in California as a volunteer on election and voting campaigns in 2018, Assal joined the team in order to further this work and embolden the voices of Iranian Americans. Her writing can be seen in Newsweek, Independent, the National Interest, and Responsible Statecraft, and she has appeared as a commentator on the BBC, Al Jazeera, BBC Persian and NPR.