Soona Samsami

U.S. Representative

Soona Samsami is the representative in the United States for Iran’s Parliament-in-exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

After the Iranian theocratic leadership unleashed a reign of terror against the pro-democracy parties in the country in 1981, Ms. Samsami stepped up her advocacy of human rights, with a special emphasis on women’s rights. She also helped organize Iranian-American communities across the U.S.

As an activist of gender equality, she has spoken at many conferences and attended many forums, including the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995. Her advocacy has led to numerous actionable items for the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human trafficking and violence against women in Iran and UN human rights resolutions on the situation of minorities and youth in Iran.

Samsami has taken part in several press conferences in Washington, DC, including in 1998 on the missile program of the Iranian regime, and February 2003 on the exposure of Kala Electric nuclear site near Tehran. In May 2003, she exposed the biological and microbial weapons program of the regime. Most recently, she provided information on Parchin military site, and the Lavizan-3 site in Tehran.

Samsami has authored many articles in, and has been interviewed by major media including The New York Times, The Hill, Roll Call, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, C-Span, and CNN. She has spoken at briefings in the United States Congress, and the United Nations. She has also lectured at George Mason University among other universities and colleges.

Samsami was born in the city of Isfahan, Iran, and studied city planning and architecture at Michigan State University.