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 Libitzky Family Senior Fellow at the think tank, The Washington Institute.

She is also curator of The Iranist—a popular newsletter on all things Iran read by the White House to Whitehall. She started the newsletter in 2015 to provide nuanced reporting on the country. She also contributes to the monthly publication Operation Environment Watch.

Holly was previously a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and the editor of the Council’s IranSource and MENASource online publications. She led a working group on human rights, society, and the environment for the Iran Strategy Project’s The future of US strategy toward Iran: A bipartisan roadmap for the next US administration.

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 the Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, NPR, and The New York Times. Her work on Iran has appeared in numerous publications, including Foreign Policy, Guardian, 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.

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 is a two-time Middle East Policy Council’s 40 Under 40 Awardee (2023 and 2025) 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 3,500 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).