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Who calls the shots in Iran on economic policy, security, and domestic calls for reform? A look at the government’s organization chart indicates how complicated the answer is.
Payton Knopf was a 2010-2011 international affairs fellow in residence at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
Mr. Knopf is a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State. He most recently served as the political officer on the staff of U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell.
He previously served in the Department of State's Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs with responsibility for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations launched at Annapolis, Maryland in November 2008. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Knopf was based at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum covering the conflict in Darfur, and he worked as an advisor to U.S Special Envoys for Sudan Andrew Natsios and Richard Williamson to support their efforts to re-start negotiations between the Darfur rebel movements and the Sudanese government. He formerly served in the Department of State's Office of Egypt and the Levant and at the U.S. Consulate General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Prior to joining the Department of State, Mr. Knopf was a program officer at the National Democratic Institute, where he managed political party development programs in the Maghreb and in Yemen and as a program officer at the International Center for Journalists.
Mr. Knopf holds a BA in international relations from Boston University and is proficient in Arabic and French.