Ramin Asgard
Ramin Asgard is the America State Department's diplomat and director of the Voice of America. Mr. Asgard practiced law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He received his JD degree from Tulane University, his MA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and his BA from Temple University. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Ramin Asgard is a career Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State. In February of 2011, he assumed the office of Director of the Voice of America’s Persian News Network. VOA began broadcasting to Iran as the VOA Persian Service in 1942, and now provides the U.S. government’s primary communications channel to Iran. Prior to joining VOA, Mr. Asgard served as Political Advisor to the Commanding General of U.S. Central Command, first for General David Petraeus and later for General James Mattis. Before CENTCOM, Mr. Asgard served as Director of the Iran Regional Presence Office in Dubai, the U.S. government’s primary field operation concerning Iran.
Prior to IRPO-Dubai, Asgard served as Deputy Political Counselor in Riyadh, Economic/Commercial Officer in Kabul, Political/Economic Officer in the UAE, and as a Consular Officer in Turkey. Mr. Asgard has also served domestically as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and as Desk Officer for Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. While serving as a political adviser, Asgard penned an article for a Tufts University journal in which he professed moral equivalency between Iran and the United States, blaming both equally for a lack of “dialogue” and “cultural diplomacy.”
He has received the 2007 Secretary’s Award for Public Outreach, the 2003 Charles Cobb Award for Trade Promotion, and several Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards.