Roya Hakakian

The Refugee’s Internal Exile

Our family had to flee Iran after 1979 and settle in the US, but in his imagination my father never left. Only I, by burying him here, have put down roots that he lost.

Iran’s Killers in Our Midst

When the FBI told me I was a target, I was shocked but not surprised. Even in US suburbs, the regime’s critics are not safe from its assassins.

Looking Back at the Land of No

“The memory of the surveillance state was so powerful that, long after arriving in America, I always peered to see who was walking behind me.”

Unveiling Iran

From the start, the Islamic Revolution used the compulsory hijab to cement its rule by subordinating women. A wave of civil disobedience is challenging all that.