Behnam Ben Taleblu

Behnam Ben Taleblu is the senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Iran Program, where he oversees the breadth and depth of FDD’s work on Iran in addition to serving as a senior fellow specializing in Iranian security and political issues. Prior to his time at FDD, Behnam worked on non-proliferation issues at an arms control think tank in Washington. He closely tracks a wide range of Iran-related functional and regional topics including nuclear non-proliferation, sanctions, the foreign and security policy of the Islamic Republic, and internal Iranian politics. He is frequently called upon to brief journalists, congressional staff, diplomatic, military, academic, and policy audiences in Washington, the United States, and the world. Behnam’s analysis has been quoted in and he has contributed to or coauthored articles in many publications, including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and Fox News, among others. Behnam earned his M.A. with honors from The University of Chicago and his B.A. from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. He is also a member of the Anti-Defamation League’s Task Force on Middle East Minorities and a contributing editor to National Security Journal.