March 30, 2020

Born in Arak, Iran, on April 16, 1989.
Favourite quote “Peace begins with a smile.”
Joined TFF as Associate in March 2020.

Key professional skills

• Experienced in project management in both national and international contexts.
• Facilitator, experienced in participatory methods in peace education, violence prevention and conflict transformation.
• Very good knowledge of disarmament in the field of chemical weapons.
• Experienced in working in diverse teams and supervising team members. • Has a background in working with special groups such as veterans, people with disabilities, youth and authorities
• Good understanding of social and cultural sensitivity and an ability to work in very diverse contexts.
• Competent in building networks and coordinating within networks.
• Pooyandeh is a native Persian (Farsi) speaker, fluent in English, ability to read and understand Arabic and basic knowledge of Spanish.

Work experience

Tehran Peace Museum, International Relations Officer, October 2016 – June 2018:
• Project manager in international exchange programs, workshops and hosting guests.
• Coordination of all programs and projects related to the Chemical Weapons Convention. This included annual participation of a delegation in Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in the Hague.
• Supervising Iranian volunteers and non-Iranian interns.
• Liaison to International organizations including ICRC, UNIC, UNHCR and UNESCO in Iran and Berghof Foundation (Germany), Mayors for Peace (Japan), International Network of Museums for Peace (Netherlands) and Organization for Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW, the Netherlands).
• Participation in Conferences of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention held by the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 as well as Chemical Weapons Convention Review Conference in 2018.
• Co-author of the Peace Education Manual and Peace Island Game Manual.
• Facilitator in peace education and chemical weapons-related workshops including the regional “Summer School for Youth: Intercultural Skills” and “Autumn School for Youth: Dialogue and Peacebuilding”.
• Coordinator of Oral History project of chemical warfare survivors.

Azad University, Cultural Advisor in National Festival on Peace February 2015- January 2016:
• Designing the structure of the festival on peace for students of Azad University all over Iran.
• Consulting in implementation of the festival.
• Partnering and networking.
• Evaluation of implementation.

Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center, Researcher February 2014 – May 2015:
• Archiving existing documents on the use of chemical weapons against Iran Research on international capacities concerning the persecution of the use of chemical weapons against Iran.

Education and qualifications

University of Bradford 2018-2019

MA in Peace, Conflict and Development (Rotary Peace Fellow): This program provided an advanced understanding of the inter-relationships between conflict, development, security, and governance in developing, fragile, transitional and/or conflict-affected regions and countries.
Additional workshops on conflict sensitivity, gender lab, Venezuelan crisis simulation, climate change simulation and study visits have been held.
The MA thesis topic was “Female Representation In The Work Force and Politics: A Case Study of Islamic Republic of Iran.”
During this period, study visits to The Gambia (West Africa), the Netherlands, Norway and Northern Ireland (UK).

Shahid Beheshti University 2011-2014

LL.M. in International Law: This Program covered topics such as international public and private law, international organizations, the law of treaties, the law of the seas as well as legal methods of settlement of international disputes and states’ liability. The thesis focused on the role of NGOs in the International Criminal Court.

Shahid Beheshti University 2007-2011

B.A. in Law: This degree was focused on Iran’s legal system including constitutional law, civil code, criminal code, the law of trade and the law of administration.

Social activities

Tehran Peace Museum: Volunteer 2012-2016 and 2018 to present
During this period, several workshops were organized in cooperation with other institutes. By participating in such workshops, necessary skills as a facilitator were gained and later applied. In addition, several international programs on chemical weapons, art and education were coordinated.

Mizan Association of Shahid Beheshti University: Member 2011-2012

Among the tasks were the translation of related legal books and organizing seminars and groups studies.

Languages

Farsi: native, English: fluent, Spanish, beginner and Arabic, beginner.

Contact

Ms Elaheh Pooyandeh
elaheh.pooyandeh@gmail.com

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The Quest for Humane Survival Richard Falk Professor emeritus, Princeton UniversityTFF Associate since 1986October 12, 2026 After decades of teaching and writing about international law in academic frameworks that were not institutionally situated within law school environments—at Princeton and the University of California, Santa Barbara—I found myself most receptive to the TWAIL outlook. It has been especially illuminating in clarifying the extent to which international law evolved as a dialogical critique of Europe’s efforts to legitimize its colonial undertakings. In particular, TWAIL has exposed how international law has functioned to legalize the subjugation of Third World peoples, securing conditions for exploitative investment and trade relations, the coercive enforcement of public debts, and an ideology of cultural superiority. TWAIL’s exposure of these economic legacies of colonialism has influenced my understanding of the history and development of international law, broadly conceived, as an ideological project of the Western sub-system of the world...
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Advocates of nuclear disarmament are regularly dismissed by the champions of nuclear deterrence as naïve and unrealistic, utopian or even irresponsible. Yet this ‘doctrine’ of deterrence, regarded by France as the ‘cornerstone’ of its national security, is based on quasi-religious beliefs, a theory that cannot be proven, risky gambles and fragile assumptions. So much so that one might legitimately ask which side the ‘Care Bears’ are on. Marc FinaudVice-President of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN) October 9, 2026 This article was originally published on Pressenza When it comes to these things being treated as religious concepts, look here. Idealists and realists It was Hubert Védrine, François Mitterrand’s former Foreign Minister, who repeatedly coined the phrase: ‘Europeans are a sort of Care Bears who don’t realise they’re living in Jurassic Park’. He applies this reference to the cartoon for well-behaved children not only to what he regards as weakness or idealism...
8824b09f-33a5-43f9-9fd0-550f28cda24d_1536x1024
What the West Borrowed from Asia and What It Left Behind Jan Krikke October 8, 2026 The article was originally published here In the late 1960s, the musical Hair announced that the Age of Aquarius was dawning. Its opening anthem promised a transformation of human consciousness: an era of peace, harmony and understanding. Half a century later, a familiar echo of that promise is a meditation app offered by your employer. You can find it in the same list of benefits as the pension plan and the gym discount. How did a spiritual revolution become an employee benefit? The answer lies in the history of the movement known as New Age: where it came from, what it borrowed from Asia, and why the meaning of what it borrowed changed in the process. Two definitions will help. New Age is a loose label for a wide range of spiritual practices and...
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Small and different + among the 10% most active + 9,000 texts + 150 Associates + 60 000 a day — and a stubborn belief that peace is smarter and must be secured by peaceful means. In 2026, the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF) turns 40. On Monday, October 5, 2026, a new TFF homepage will go live — a new gateway to more than 9,000 articles, analyses, research papers and other contributions produced over four decades of independent peace research. But this is not simply a new website. For four decades, TFF has worked from a simple conviction: peace is smarter than militarism and can be brought about by peaceful means. This is not merely an aspiration. It is the principle expressed in the UN Charter and the Gandhian tradition that has guided our work from the beginning. TFF is a research-based, independent and people-financed foundation....
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It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...