Bahman Baktiari is a senior consultant with Omid For Iran. Omid is a nonprofit organization located in Salt Lake City, Utah founded in 2009 by Iranian-American philanthropist Khosrow Semnani. It is an initiative committed to empowering Iranian civil society and advancing good governance. Omid has published two reports: “The Ayatollah’s Nuclear Gamble: The Human Costs of Military Strikes Against Iran’s Nuclear Facilities” (2012) and “Where is My Oil?: Corruption in Iran’s Oil and Gas Sector” (2018). Baktiari’s most recent publications include “How Can Iran and the United States Normalize Their Relationship After 36 Years of Mutual Satanization?”, “Sports Diplomacy With Iran: Breaking Barriers, Bridging Differences,” “Can the U.S. and Iran Become Trustworthy Rivals?”, and “Rouhani’s Nuclear Gridlock: Assessing the Domestic Challenges to President Hassan Rouhani’s Nuclear Deal with the West.” He received his PhD in government from the University of Virginia and has taught at the University of Maine and American University in Cairo.