Yaghoub Yadali

"Enemy...terrorism...nuclear bomb...war." These words are often used by American media to describe Iran. The image the media presents is often hazy, incomplete, and distorted. The political and military aspects of my country are covered mainly in a negative light.

In Under Eastern Eyes (I have adopted the name from the novel Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad), I will write about those topics which American media either cannot or does not want to talk about. The emphasis will be on social and cultural aspects of Iran although, out of necessity, I will talk about politics, despite my despair.

Yaghoub Yadali, born in 1970, is a writer and television director. His first work of fiction, the short-story collection Sketches in the Garden, was published in 1997. It was followed in 2001 by Probability of Merriment and Mooning, which was named book of the year by the Writers and Critics Award. His first novel, The Rituals of Restlessness, won the 2004 Golshiri Foundation Award for the best novel of the year and was named as one of the ten best novels of the decade by the Press Critics Award. He has also published many articles and reviews of literature and cinema in newspapers and magazines in Iran.

New Voyager! Yes, We Can
by Yaghoub Yadali / December 17, 2013

Does a new viral YouTube video signal big changes in Iran? Entitled “New Voyager,” the music video, which has strong similarities with the Obama campaign’s “Yes We Can” video, is largely based on president Hassan Rouhani speeches, shows women singing, and portrays Iran’s diverse society.
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What We Talk About When We Talk About Iran
by Yaghoub Yadali / November 29, 2013

In a recent Gallup poll Americans rated Iran as their “biggest enemy.” Why is it like this? “Why do Americans believe all news that tries to paint Iran as an ‘enemy’ and a ‘terrorist’ only interested in building nuclear bombs?” Iranian writer Yaghoub Yadali attempts to dispel the widely held myths.
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