User:Rasgard27/sandbox

Ramin Asgard
Mr. Ramin Asgard recently completed 16 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State, and is currently in private legal practice in Washington DC. While with State, he held several key senior posts involving Iran, and also worked in or on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. From 2011-2012, he served as the Director of Voice of America Persian, America’s leading communication channel to the Iranian people. After his one year tenure, VOA Persian's market share in Iran increased 375%, from 6% reported weekly viewership to 22% weekly viewership. From 2009-2011, Mr. Asgard served as Political Advisor at US Central Command in Tampa to CENTCOM Commanders GEN David Petraeus and GEN James Mattis. At CENTCOM, he was lead foreign policy advisor for the twenty country CENTCOM Area of Operations (AOR). Prior to joining CENTCOM, Mr. Asgard served as Director of the Iran Regional Presence Office (IRPO) in Dubai, the US government’s primary field operation concerning Iran. While at IRPO, he played a key role in reviving US-Iran official cultural exchange programs, the first since 1979. Prior to IRPO, he served as Deputy Political Counselor in Riyadh, Economic/Commercial Officer in Kabul, Pol/Econ Officer in the UAE, and as a Consular Officer in Turkey. Mr. Asgard has also served as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and as Desk Officer for Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. He received the 2007 Secretary's Award for Public Outreach for his work promoting US-Iran educational and cultural exchanges, and the 2003 Ambassador Charles Cobb Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development for his work securing FDI and reconstruction in post-war Afghanistan. He also received four Superior Honor and six Meritorious Honor Awards while with State, and served as a Hometown Diplomat. Prior to joining State, Mr. Asgard practiced law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He received a JD from Tulane University, an MA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA summa cum laude from Temple University. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Atlantic Council’s Iran Task Force. He has also proudly served the past three years as a mentor to Next Generation mentees from the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans.

Weblinks ————— Asgard Law Offices - Washington DC [coming soon] US Department of State US Central Command VOA Persian (Persian News Network) Atlantic Council of the US - Iran Task Force