about Holly Dagres

short bio

Holly Dagres (هالی دگرس) is a nonresident senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank, the Atlantic Council. She is also the editor of the Council’s IranSource blog and curator for the weekly newsletter, The Iranist.

Holly is Iranian-American and has fifteen years of experience in the Middle East (living in Tehran, Cairo, and Jerusalem).

Contact Holly for media or speaking opportunities.

LONGER BIO

Holly Dagres is an Iranian-American analyst and commentator on the Middle East specializing on Iran with an emphasis on the intersection of security and human rights. Based in Washington, she is a nonresident senior fellow at the think tank, the Atlantic Council.

Holly is also the editor of the Council’s IranSource and MENASource online publications and curator of The Iranist, a weekly newsletter on Iran. She started the newsletter in 2015 to provide factual and key stories on the country. The Iranist is trusted by thousands, including academics, diplomats, journalists, policymakers, and more. In a separate capacity, she is an Iran analyst for the US Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO).

Holly spent her teenage years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, from 1999 to 2006, during which time she graduated from Tehran International School. She returned to the United States to attend UCLA, double majoring in political science and French with latin and college honors. As the Arab Spring shook the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, Holly’s fascination with the region compelled her to attend graduate school at the American University in Cairo, where she studied political science. She has fifteen years of experience in the Middle East (living in Tehran, Cairo, and Jerusalem).

Today, Holly is a well-known authority on Iran. Holly regularly conducts radio, television, and print interviews, including CNN, Bloomberg, NBC News, NPR, The New York Times, and Washington Post. Her work on Iran has appeared in numerous publications, including Foreign Policy, Guardian, The New York Times, TIME, and the Washington Post. She is the author of the groundbreaking report, Iranians on #SocialMedia, and has given a TEDxTalk on Iranian Gen Z and the push for change in Iran. She also contributed to the Iran Strategy Project’s The future of US strategy toward Iran: A bipartisan roadmap for the next US administration report as a working group member.

Holly is also called to consult for the private sector and rights groups. She is often invited to speak at K-12 schools and non-governmental organizations to share her knowledge of the Middle East and to explain what it’s like to grow up in Iran.

Holly’s work on Iran has been recognized by the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations, when she was invited to the White House for an Iranian New Year (Nowruz) reception in 2016 and 2023, respectively. She is a Middle East Policy Council’s 2023 40 Under 40 Awardee and Diversity In National Security Network’s 2023 National Security & Foreign Affairs Honoree.

Holly has a strong and ever-growing social media presence, with 50k followers on X (@hdagres), 7k subscribers on Facebook, and 3k followers on Instagram. 

Holly is currently a security fellow with the Truman National Security Project as well as a member of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group (WFPG) and Iranian American Women Foundation (IAWF). She is fluent in Persian (فارسی).