Natalie Amiri

About power and powerlessness in Iran


Since August 2022, we have been receiving disturbing images from Iran almost every day. After the death of a young Kurdish woman, the demonstrations against the “theoretical state” regime developed into an uprising that was mainly carried out by young women. How did that happen? No one other than Natalie Amiri can paint the face of Iranian society more authentically, without leaving the necessary critical distance. She commuted between Germany and Iran for over a quarter of a century, heading the ARD studio in Tehran for five years before discreet warnings from the Foreign Office suggested she leave the country. In her book “Between the Worlds,” published in 2020, she draws a summary of her years in Iran. In 25 chapters, from very different and very personal perspectives, she presents a picture of a country about whose inner life far too little is known in Europe. “I want to give the people of Iran a voice.” (Natalie Amiri)


Natalie Amiri was born and raised in Munich as the daughter of a German-Iranian family. From 1999 to 2005 she studied Oriental and Islamic Studies in Bamberg, Tehran and Damascus. She then began working as a journalist, for ARD since 2007. From 2015 to 2020 she headed the ARD studio in Tehran. Since then she has been living in Munich again as a reporter and presenter for Bavarian Radio and as an author. In July 2022 she received the journalism prize of the state capital of Munich.