Asieh Namdar

media — 21 November 2010

Asieh Namdar (born in 1965) is an Iranian journalist and television presenter. She was born to parents of Iranian origin, in Karachi in 1967. Namdar grew up in Tehran, Iran. Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, her family moved to the United States. Namdar graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She is fluent in Persian and Sindhi and has a considerable understanding of Urdu.

Having joined CNN in 1989 as a video journalist, Asieh has held many positions, including producing her own segment, reporting on the Middle East conflict, the civil war in Northern Uganda, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and interviewing world leaders such as the late Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister. In 2004, she traveled to Iran to report on the Bam earthquake. Namdar also anchored, wrote and produced the daily CNN’s Headline News segment “The Global Minute”.

Asieh Namdar is senior writer for HLN and serves as an anchor for CNN International. Namdar also provides reports and analysis of international news on CNN/U.S.

Previously, Namdar anchored, wrote and produced a daily segment on HLN called “The Global Minute,” which provided quick updates on news and features from around the world. Namdar also has served as a host for CNN World Report on CNN International. She joined CNN in 1989 and is based in the network’s world headquarters in Atlanta.

During her tenure at CNN, Namdar has reported on numerous stories and events, including the Middle East conflict, the civil war in Northern Uganda, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the attacks in Mumbai. She also reported extensively on the tsunami disaster in Asia and the earthquake in the ancient Iranian city of Bam. In 2004, she traveled to Bam with a team of American doctors to provide relief to survivors.

Namdar has also interviewed various world leaders and newsmakers, including Nobel Peace-Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Jordan’s Queen Rania, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and best-selling Author Azar Nafisi.

Namdar has been recognized for her work by numerous Iranian-American organizations. She is originally from Iran and speaks Farsi fluently.

Namdar began her career at CNN as a video journalist after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in communications.