Shahrzad Mirgholikhan
United States
Shahrzad Mirgholikhan (Persian: شهرزاد میرقلیخان) is an Iranian whistleblower.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida convicted her of attempting to import night-vision goggles to Iran, that led to her imprisonment in the United States from 2007 to 2012. Following her release, Mirgholikhan returned to Iran and was appointed to work at Iran's state television. In 2016, she left Iran after being charged with espionage by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Early life and education
She was born to a wealthy family and was brought up as a practicing Muslim. Her mother, Belghis Rovshan was a professor of linguistics and her father, Ghassem Mirgholikhan was an engineer.[1] Mirgholikhan met her first husband in the mid-1990s and after marriage gave birth to twin daughters, Melika and Melina. She divorced from her husband because he became a drug addict.[1] In 2000, she married Mahmoud Seif, two weeks after they met in a restaurant. The couple separated in 2002, but were reunited again in 2003.[1] During the separation, Mirgholikhan was also briefly married to another man through a sham marriage to obtain permission papers to leave Iran.[1]
Mirgholikhan has studied at a university in Dubai in the early 2000s, obtaining an MBA degree.[1]
IRIB career
Following her release from the U.S. prison, she returned to Iran and was employed at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), as the director of international relations at Press TV under Mohammad Sarafraz, then-head of the channel.[2] In 2014, when Sarafraz was promoted as the general-director of IRIB, Mirgholikhan became the 'special inspector' of IRIB. According to Al-Monitor, she "poked around everywhere and into everything to stop waste and corruption",[2] and clashed with Abdulali Ali-Asgari, who was IRIB's deputy-director for technical affairs at the time.[3]
Exile
Since 2016, she resides in Oman.[4]
Bibliography
- Shahrzad Mirgholikhan (2015), Bianca Rahimi (ed.), Shahrzad: A True Story, H&S Media, ISBN 9781780834740
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Deirdra Funcheon (8 January 2009), "The Agent from Iran", Miami New Times, retrieved 1 November 2019
- ^ a b Arash Azizi (16 May 2016), "The real 'back pain' behind head of Iranian broadcaster's resignation", Al-Monitor, retrieved 1 November 2019
- ^ Arash Karami (23 March 2016), "Head of Iran's state TV skips 10 days of work ... or did he?", Al-Monitor, retrieved 1 November 2019
- ^ "Both US and Iran make life rough for Mir-Gholikhan", Iran Times, 19 February 2016, retrieved 1 November 2019
External links
- U.S. v. Gholikhan, Case No. 05-60238-CR-COHN
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- Embassy of Iran, Washington, D.C.
- Ambassadors of Iran to the United States
- Embassy of the United States, Tehran
- Ambassadors of the United States to Iran
- Interests Section of Iran in the United States
- Consulate-General of the United States, Tabriz
- Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
- Iran–United States Claims Tribunal
- Iranian Directorate
- Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group
- Persian Corridor
- Persian Gulf Command
- Nationalization of the Iranian oil industry
- 1953 Iranian coup d'état
- Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights
- Exercise Delawar
- Project Dark Gene
- Safari Club
- Island of Stability
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to George W. Bush
- Correspondence between Barack Obama and Ali Khamenei
- Phone conversation between Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani
- Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
- Assassination of Paul R. Shaffer and John H. Turner
- Iranian Revolution
- Iran hostage crisis
- Beirut barracks bombings
- Khobar Towers bombing
- Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal
- Disappearance of Robert Levinson
- United States kill or capture strategy in Iraq
- United States raid on the Iranian Liaison Office in Erbil
- Kidnapping of Jalal Sharafi
- 2008 Naval dispute
- Project Cassandra
- Detention of American hikers
- United States diplomatic cables leak
- 2011 alleged Iran assassination plot
- Strait of Hormuz dispute
- RQ-170 incident
- MV Maersk Tigris
- 2016 Naval incident
- Nuclear program of Iran
- Kidnapping of Hossein Alikhani
- Arrest of Meng Wanzhou
- Deportation of Iranian students at US airports
- May 2019 Gulf of Oman incident
- June 2019 Gulf of Oman incident
- 2019 Iranian shoot-down of American drone
- 2019 K-1 Air Base attack
- December 2019 United States airstrikes in Iraq and Syria
- Attack on the United States embassy in Baghdad
- 2020 Iran explosions
- 2021 Erbil rocket attacks
- 2021 Natanz incident
- Leaked Mohammad Javad Zarif audiotape
- June 2021 United States airstrike in Syria
- July 2021 Gulf of Oman incident
- August 2021 Gulf of Oman incident
- 2021 U.S.–Iran naval incident
- 2022 Erbil missile attacks
- 2023 Northeastern Syria clashes
- Seizure of Suez Rajan and St Nikolas
- Attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria (2023–present)
- 2024 Erbil attack
- Tower 22 drone attack
- Iranian interference in the 2024 United States elections
- United States sanctions against Iran
- Executive Order 12170
- Executive Order 12172
- Executive Order 13769
- Executive Order 13780
- Executive Order 13876
- Iran and Libya Sanctions Act
- Iran Nonproliferation Act
- Iran, North Korea, Syria Nonproliferation Act
- Iran Freedom and Support Act
- Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act
- Kyl–Lieberman Amendment
- Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act
- Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act
- Public Law 113-100
- Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act
- Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
- Dames & Moore v. Regan
- United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran
- Oil Platforms case
- United States v. Banki
- Bank Markazi v. Peterson
- Certain Iranian Assets
- Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran
- Alleged violations of Treaty of Amity
- Iran Action Group
- Iran–America Society
- Iranian Students Association in the United States
- National Iranian American Council
- Organization of Iranian American Communities
- Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans
- United Against Nuclear Iran
- Farashgard
- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
- Jundallah
- Kingdom Assembly of Iran
- National Council of Iran
- National Council of Resistance of Iran
- Elliott Abrams
- Howard Baskerville
- William J. Fallon
- Brian Hook
- Joseph Macmanus
- Robert Malley
- Stephen D. Mull
- Jon Pattis
- Erwin David Rabhan
- Jason Rezaian
- Scott Ritter
- Craig Wadsworth
- Michael R. White
- Roxana Saberi
- Saeed Abedini
- Saeid Aboutaleb
- Shahram Amiri
- Sirous Asgari
- Mahmoud Reza Banki
- Haleh Esfandiari
- Amir Mirza Hekmati
- Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil
- Shahrzad Mirgholikhan
- Mohammad Hosseini
- Esha Momeni
- Mohammad Mosaddegh
- Baquer Namazi
- Siamak Namazi
- Sahar Nowrouzzadeh
- Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran
- Noor Pahlavi
- Trita Parsi
- Maryam Rajavi
- Abdolreza Shahlaei
- Ali Shakeri
- Masoud Soleimani
- Morad Tahbaz
- Kian Tajbakhsh
- Karan Vafadari
- Xiyue Wang
- Nizar Zakka
- Iranian Guantanamo Bay detainees
- 1998 FIFA World Cup match
- Academic relations between Iran and the United States
- American Islam
- Anti-American sentiment in Iran
- Axis of evil
- CIA activities in Iran
- Copyright relations
- Death to America
- Dual containment
- Great Satan
- International Conference on Hollywoodism
- Iran and state-sponsored terrorism
- Iranian frozen assets
- Opposition to military action against Iran
- Our enemy is here, they are lying that it is America
- State Sponsor of Terrorism
- United States involvement in regime change
- United States and state-sponsored terrorism
- 650 Fifth Avenue
- Alborz High School
- American Institute of Iranian Studies
- American School of Isfahan
- Community School, Tehran
- Damavand College
- Iran Bethel School
- Iranzamin School
- Saint Peter Church, Tehran
- Tehran American School
- "Bomb Iran"
- Overthrow
- Not for the Faint of Heart