Amir H. Ladan
Encyclopedia
Amir H. Ladan a researcher, writer and political activist has written numerous articles ‎and spoken on American foreign policy as it relates to the Middle East, oil and Iran. (The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) Florida chapter, The Foundation for Middle East Communication, church & civic groups). He established the Defense Organization for Freedom (DOF) in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in 1968 to promote ‎Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

, Justice and Democracy in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. Returning to Iran in 1973 he set up DOF as a ‎co-ordinating committee for activities against the monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

 and participated in the Revolution of ‎‎1978-79. Following the overthrow of the Shah, he was imprisoned by Khomeini’s government and placed on death row along ‎with 511 other activists, political leaders and industrialists, 504 were executed and 8 were exiled. ( Zendan'e Toheedi; Qasra prison in the Spring of Freedom, book by A. Paya)

After his release from political prison in 1980, he returned to the United States and became a naturalized American. In 1989 he served on the national advisory council of The Foundation for Middle East Communication, based in Washington, DC. During the Iran/Iraq war he founded Coalition for Iran Iraq Peace, holding numerous events demanding peace and highlighting the devastating effects of war.

As a founding member of the Iranian National Conference (INC)(1995) and a member of its Executive Committee, in 1997 he appeared in ‎front of the Congressional Foreign Relations Committee with fellow INC member, Dr. Mehdi Haeri Khorshidi http://www.iranwatch.org/government/US/Congress/Hearings/hirc-072397/us-hirc-ilsa-072397.htm (Iran Watch).
INC, an all inclusive gathering of Iranian political groups, associations and activists in diaspora, opposed the Islamic Republic, and promoted human rights, freedom and democracy in Iran until its desolution in 1999.

Mr. Ladan continues to speak out for human rights; "Human Rights & Religion," http://asre-nou.net/php/view.php?objnr=7071; "Starving for Justice," http://www.iranian.com/main/2009/jul/starving-justice.

Mr. Ladan, born December 5, 1943 in Tehran, Iran, moved to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 then Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1959. He came to the ‎United States in 1964 and graduated from Woodrow Wilson College in 1968. After receiving a degree in Political Science from the University of ‎Illinois Chicago Circle, he returned to Iran, where in 1975 he attended the Industrial Management Institute ‎‎(IMI), an affiliated MBA program of Columbia University.

Publications

Articles have appeared in:
  • Asre-nou.net
  • Gooya.org
  • Akhbar-rooz.com
  • Peykeiran.com
  • Roshangari.net and
  • Iranian.com


Frequent contributor to:
  • Iran Times
  • Shahrvand
  • Persian Heritage
  • Kayhan
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