Meet Mobina Riazi, ’26

Mobina Riazi will graduate this year with a master’s degree in communications and a minor in global studies, with a specialization in Iranian studies. She completed her bachelor’s degree in political science in 2025. For Riazi, minoring in Iranian studies was a calling, and a personal journey beyond an academic pursuit.

“There is simply no other institution in the world with this caliber of scholarship on the history and contemporary reality of Iran, and I knew that to be here and not immerse myself in it would be to pass up something irreplaceable,” Riazi says. 

After graduation, Riazi will join Stris & Maher as a litigation fellow, where she looks forward to applying the analytical rigor and investigative instincts she has developed during her time at Stanford. Congratulations, Mobina! 

Read the Q&A below to learn more about her Stanford journey.

Why did you choose to study Iran? How has your minor changed your understanding of the world or influenced your future plans?

I immigrated to the United States in 2011 from Tehran, Iran. Having moved at such a young age, I turned early to history to reconcile my fragmented memories of home and to answer the deeper questions about my own life's trajectory—why I had to leave, and what it meant to grow up at such a distance from the people and place I loved. I remember being consumed by history documentaries and books, searching for something I could not yet name. One day I came across Abbas Milani’s TED talk, “The Paradox that is Persia,” and it opened my eyes to the extraordinary community of thinkers dedicating their life to producing knowledge, and preserving the history of this region. That talk started my journey of uncovering who I am and how I might one day give back to my community. When I arrived at Stanford, I was overwhelmed with excitement at the prospect of not only learning from scholars like Professor Milani, but contributing to their work. Minoring in Iranian studies was never a question, it was a calling. There is simply no other institution in the world with this caliber of scholarship on the history and contemporary reality of Iran, and I knew that to be here and not immerse myself in it would be to pass up something irreplaceable. For me, this minor has never just been an academic pursuit, but a personal journey.

What was the most meaningful or memorable experience from your time in the Iranian studies minor?

The most memorable experience I have had during my time as an Iranian studies minor has been working on my manuscript with Professor Shervin Emami. This project began as part of a directed reading we did on Saadi's works but unfolded into a much deeper exploration of Persian poetry and poetic psychology through the works of Khayyam, Attar, and Hafez. Yet the most remarkable element of this project was the personal transformation and philosophical grounding I found toward life and my future endeavors. No other project has shaped my way of thinking and attitude more than this one. I had the opportunity to compile these close readings into a manuscript of my own that I look forward to publishing shortly after graduation.

What experiences outside the classroom helped shape your Stanford journey? 

During the summer of my junior year, I received a grant to research the hacktivist dynamics between Iran and Israel following the October 7th attacks while interning at the CyberPeace Institute in Geneva. Being at this institute alongside expert cyber threat analysts while focusing on my own specialized research project allowed me to explore a field of emerging geopolitical analysis that put the skills I had developed as a political science major and Iranian Studies minor to novel use. I learned new methodologies and gained new analytical skills that opened the door to both professional and academic avenues of research in cyber threat analysis and investigative journalism that I had not yet been exposed to.

As you reflect on your time at Stanford, what accomplishment or experience are you most proud of?

I have attended so many of the remarkable talks put on by the Iranian Studies Program, and have consistently found myself inspired by the speakers and their unique academic and professional trajectories. Working on the School Poisonings in Iran Project with the Stanford Humanitarian Program at the Law School was one of the most meaningful extensions of this intellectual community. Getting to present at one of the Iranian studies talks was among the highlights of my entire undergraduate experience, offering me the rare opportunity to contribute my own voice and research to a community of scholars and peers I deeply admire.

What advice would give to a Stanford student considering the Iranian studies minor?

The Iranian Studies Program is a one-of-a-kind minor that exposes you to a vast breadth of knowledge and equips you with skills that simply cannot be gained in a traditional classroom setting. It opens doors to research opportunities and mentorship that is deeply tailored and focused on you as an individual, something I have not encountered in any other department at Stanford. More than an academic program, it is a community that will invest in you, challenge you, and value you in a way that is truly unlike anything else this university has to offer.