Mehran Haghirian

Director of Regional Initiatives

Email: mehran [at] bourseandbazaar.com

Mehran Haghirian is the Director of Regional Initiatives at the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, a think tank focused on economic diplomacy, economic development, and economic justice in the Middle East and Central Asia. In this role, Mehran draws on his extensive background researching regional political and security frameworks. He is a PhD candidate at Qatar University, where he focuses on the geopolitics of the Persian Gulf region, and holds a master’s degree in international affairs from American University's School of International Service in Washington DC. Prior to joining B&BF, Mehran worked at the Ibn Khaldon Center for Humanities and Social Sciences as a researcher and assistant director and at the Atlantic Council's Future of Iran Initiative as a project assistant.

Selected Publications:

Analytical Articles

• Mehran Haghirian. ‘With Iran, Nuclear Diplomacy Comes First’. Atlantic Council, 25 February 2021. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/with-iran-nuclear-diplomacy-comes-first/

• Mehran Haghirian. ‘Can 2021 be the Year Iran and the GCC States Engage in Dialogue?’. Gulf Insights, 9 December 2020. http://www.qu.edu.qa/static_file/qu/research/Gulf%20Studies/documents/Gulf%20Insights%2039.pdf

• Mehran Haghirian. ‘A Regional Plan of Action to Complement the JCPOA’. Gulf States Analytics, 9 December 2020. https://gulfstateanalytics.com/a-regional-plan-of-action-to-complement-the-jcpoa/

• Seyed Hossein Mousavian and Mehran Haghirian. ‘How Can the United Nation’s Facilitate Dialogue in the Persian Gulf After Biden’s Inauguration?’ Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, 17 November 2020. https://peacediplomacy.org/2020/11/17/how-can-the-united-nations-facilitate-dialogue-in-the-persian-gulf-after-bidens-inauguration/

• Mehran Haghirian and Luciano Zaccara. ‘Making Sense of HOPE: Can Iran’s Hormuz Peace Endeavor Succeed?’. Atlantic Council, 3 October 2019. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/making-sense-of-hope-can-irans-hormuz-peace-endeavor-succeed/

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

• Haghirian, Mehran, and Zangiabadi, Younes. ‘The U.S. Factor in Iran’s Geostrategic and Foreign Policy Calculations’, in The Geopolitics of Iran (Leandro et al.). Springer (2021). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-981-16-3564-9_7

• Haghirian, Mehran. ‘Iran’s Pragmatic Foreign Policy in Response to Regional Crises: The Case of the Blockade Against Qatar’, in The 2017 Gulf Crisis: An Interdisciplinary Approach (Zweiri et al.). Springer (2020). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-8735-1_16

• Zaccara, Luciano, and Haghirian, Mehran. ’Rouhani, the Nuclear Deal and New Horizons for Iran-US Relations’ in Foreign Policy of Iran under President Hassan Rouhani’s First Term (Zaccara). Palgrave Macmillan (2020).https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-981-15-3924-4_4

• Al-Saidi, Mohammad, and Mehran Haghirian. ‘A Quest for the Arabian Atom? Geopolitics, Security, and National Identity in the Nuclear Energy Programs in the Middle East’. Energy Research & Social Science 69 (2020): 101582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101582.

• Haghirian, Mehran. ‘The Foreign Policy Objectives and Determinants of the Islamic Republic of Iran’ in Foreign and Security Policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Czulda). University of Lodz (2019).