Mehdi Zakerian

Dr. Mehdi Zakerian, Visiting Professor in Penn Law, The University of Pennsylvania, President of Iranian International Studies Association, Editor-in-chief of International Studies Journal (ISJ).^[1]

A scholar of international law and international human rights, Dr. Mehdi Zakerian holds a Ph.D. in international relations from Islamic Azad University where he has been an assistant professor since 1999. With over sixteen years of experience teaching international and Islamic human rights, he has held lectureships at prominent Iranian universities and was recently appointed Chair of the International Studies Association of Iran.As co-founder and presently Editor-in-Chief (2004-to date)of the International Studies Journal, widely considered the most significant journal of international law and international politics in Iran,^[2] Dr. Zakerian promotes one of the few forums of academic dialogue in Iran to regularly publish and engage with colleagues from the West. He has collaborated with local and international universities and NGOs to organize several conferences at which he has regularly presented papers on international relations and human rights in the Middle East. Dr. Zakerian has penned over 50 publications including books, translations, book reviews and over 100 published articles, many focused on the implementation of international human rights standards in the context of an Islamic state.^[3] On this subject, Dr. William Burke-White, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School writes, “this is perhaps the most important topic for international human rights scholarship in the modern context and [this scholar’s] work is among the best there is.” ^[4] Prof. Mehdi Zakerian scheduled to join Penn Law in 2008 but he detained for 72 days by Iranian government.^[5]

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