Senior regional editor in the Central Newsroom at @RFERL | Leading coverage of Middle East, South Asia, and Central Asia | Email: [email protected]
Joined October 2011
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Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
Today, 48 of the roughly 60 villages and towns within Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon are mostly levelled, a NYT analysis has found. nytimes.com/interactive/2026…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
My latest:
Iran and Pakistan see surge in opium cultivation, three years after the Taliban imposed a sweeping drugs ban in neighboring Afghanistan.
rferl.org/a/opium-taliban-af…
My latest:
Iran and Pakistan see surge in opium cultivation, three years after the Taliban imposed a sweeping drugs ban in neighboring Afghanistan.
rferl.org/a/opium-taliban-af…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
I filed together this piece with @FrudBezhan -- Opium cultivation fell dramatically in Afghanistan, the world’s largest producer, after the Taliban imposed a narcotics ban in 2022. Since then, production has surged in neighboring Pakistan and Iran. rferl.org/a/opium-taliban-af…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
.@DaudKhattak1 and I write about the surge in opium production in Pakistan and Iran since the Taliban imposed a narcotics ban in Afghanistan.
With comments from @mansfieldintinc
rferl.org/a/opium-taliban-af…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
The restive and desolate border region between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran is now “rapidly becoming a global center for opium and methamphetamine production,” said one expert. ⬇️
By @DaudKhattak1 and @FrudBezhan
rferl.org/a/opium-taliban-af…
.@DaudKhattak1 and I write about the surge in opium production in Pakistan and Iran since the Taliban imposed a narcotics ban in Afghanistan.
With comments from @mansfieldintinc
rferl.org/a/opium-taliban-af…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
We spent a week in the Occupied West Bank:
We saw bloody settler attacks, Palestinian homes demolished & tense interactions with Israeli soldiers
Here's a short clip ⬇️
Including our attempt to reach a Palestinian family besieged by "hilltop youth" settlers - before we were violently stopped
With @MillyTeasdale @MackesonPaul Ayman Abu Ramouz & Nava Mizrahi
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
Full interview with Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine about her horrific experience being attacked by Israeli settler zealots in the occupied West Bank:
cnn.com/2026/10/22/world/vid…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
I spoke to @nytimes about why the destruction of land in south Lebanon matters as much as the destruction of homes. Israel has leveled 48 of about 60 villages there, and fires and bulldozers have wiped out thousands of acres of olive groves and farmland. nytimes.com/interactive/2026…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
New Interview: I talked to the journalist Jasper Nathaniel about what he witnessed in the West Bank when the WaPo’s Heidi Levine & multiple Palestinians were attacked by Israeli settlers, as well as what’s been happening there before the Israeli election. newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/b…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
My first @CrisisGroup commentary:
How War is Reshaping #Iran’s Axis of Resistance
Three years of hostilities have transformed Tehran’s network of allies in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic is now relying more heavily on itself, while adapting its relationships with partners whose diminished military utility has not necessarily reduced its commitment to their protection.
crisisgroup.org/cmt/middle-e…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
"Gaza has exposed how Europe’s supposedly universal commitment to human rights is now conditional on whose suffering is recognized, whose resistance is considered legitimate and whose demands for justice are considered worthy of attention." trib.al/z2Yy5At
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villagers trying to gather their autumn olive harvest. Heidi Levine, a veteran photographer for The Post, was also knocked her to the ground, kicked repeatedly and stripped of her camera and phone.
wapo.st/4yY8dJw
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
My latest:
The intensifying Baluch insurgency is compounding the security threats facing #Iran, which is bracing for a possible resumption of major US combat operations.
With comments from @HamidRezaAz and @FatemehAman
rferl.org/a/iran-sistan-balu…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
Israeli spyware sat inside 45 of Al Jazeera's computers. Nobody had to click. It got in through ads for phones and earbuds, in the same years Israel was killing the network's journalists in Gaza.
I worked there for a decade. I wrote about it: tiny.cc/ge4c101
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
.@PeteHegseth is so worried about the findings of the internal investigation into CENTCOM’s killing of at least 123 Iranian children in Minab that he is delaying the release of the final report until after the midterms.
Gift link:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
Iran’s missiles and drones have hit Gulf infrastructure sites at least 135 times, causing cascading failures that governments have often concealed. Reuters found the equipment struck was, time and again, exactly what mattered most reut.rs/4ioTXT5
Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن retweeted
Told @RFERL that the renewed attacks in Sistan-Baluchistan come at a time when the Islamic republic is facing unprecedented military and economic pressure.
What makes the situation more concerning for Tehran is the possibility that localized insurgent activity could become part of a broader security challenge.
rferl.org/a/iran-sistan-balu…