Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Credit Steve Barrett

International correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is based in Cairo and covers the Arab world for NPR from the Middle East to North Africa. Her reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning programs including Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

In 2006, Nelson opened the NPR Kabul Bureau. During the following three and a half years, she gave listeners an in-depth sense of life inside Afghanistan, from the increase in suicides among women in a tribal society that sees them as second class citizens, to the growing interference of Iran and Pakistan in Afghan affairs and the impact of Western policies in the region. For her coverage of Afghanistan, she won a Peabody award, Overseas Press Club award and Gracie in 2010.

Nelson came to NPR in 2006, after spending more than two decades as a newspaper reporter. She served as Knight Ridder's Middle East Bureau Chief from 2002 to 2005 where she specialized in covering Iran. As a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Nelson was sent on extended assignment to Iran and Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Nelson spent three years as an editor and reporter for Newsday and was part of the team that won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for covering the crash of TWA flight 800. She also spent time at the the Orange County Register covering Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A graduate of the University of Maryland, Nelson speaks Farsi, Dari, and German. She is married to long-time reporter Erik Nelson and they have a son.

A German City With Debt Problems Of Its Own

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Credit Patrik Stollarz / AFP/Getty Images

The main street in Oberhausen — Germany's most indebted city — is dotted with vacancies. Despite its economic woes, Oberhausen, like other western German cities, must make "reunification" payments to the former communist East. The payments help explain German voters' reluctance to bail out Greece and other eurozone countries.

Credit Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson / NPR

Tackenberg elementary school in Oberhausen, slated to close by mid-2015, is one of the casualties of the city's required austerity measures.

By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Originally published on Mon November 12, 2012 7:31 pm

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Germany, the economic engine of Europe, has been a key player in bailing out the Continent's most troubled economies.

Yet there are places in the former West Germany — like Oberhausen — that are struggling with their own debt problems, even as they pay hefty sums to revitalize former East German cities with transfers known as "Solidarity Pact" payments.

Borrowing To Stay Afloat — And Pay Out

5:31 pm

Fri September 28, 2012

Can't Change Your Money In Iran? Try Afghanistan

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Credit Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson / NPR

A money-changer in the Afghan city of Herat counts a stack of Iranian bills. More and more Iranian currency is being brought in by smugglers to exchange for dollars, which then go back to Iran.

Credit Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson / NPR

Money-changers in the Afghan city of Herat carry large stacks of Iranian currency.

By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Originally published on Fri September 28, 2012 6:24 pm

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The western Afghan city of Herat has become a thriving hub for the money exchange business, a consequence of geography and politics. Money-changers throng the currency market carrying thick stacks of Iranian currency, much of it brought in by the hundreds of thousands of Afghan workers who earn their living in Iran.

While the stacks of crisp 100,000 rial notes that money-changers bring to the market might look like a small fortune, the 10 million rials in each of these stacks is worth less than $400, because the Iranian currency recently lost more than half of its value.

5:03 pm

Fri September 28, 2012

Iran Turns To Afghanistan When Laundering Money

By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Originally published on Fri September 28, 2012 5:15 pm

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There may be international sanctions against Iran, but not in Afghanistan's border provinces with the Islamic Republic where trade and money-laundering are thriving. Every day, millions in Iranian currency are brought in by taxis ferrying passengers. The Iranian money is exchanged for dollars, which are then shipped back to Iran. American officials recently ordered the Afghan banks to crack down on this phenomenon and it appears to be having some effect.

4:04 pm

Fri September 14, 2012

Amid Strains, U.S. Begins Wind-Down In Afghanistan

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Credit Tony Karumba / AFP/Getty Images

A U.S. soldier shares grapes with Afghan boys in the southern province of Kandahar on Wednesday.

Credit Kyodo/Landov

The U.S. military handed over to the Afghans a detention facility at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, on Monday. This comes as the U.S. begins to reduce its presence in Afghanistan.

By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 4:50 pm

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When the U.S. military handed over the detention center at Bagram Air Field to Afghan authorities this week, it symbolized an American role that is winding down — and the uncomfortable relationship between the two countries.

The prison, where Taliban and terrorism suspects are housed, has been a sore point for Afghans for years.

At the ceremony, an announcer read the names of Bagram prisoners who the Afghans said were wrongly detained and were now being freed.

4:17 am

Mon September 10, 2012

U.S. Hands Over Control Of Bagram Prison To Kabul

By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Originally published on Mon September 10, 2012 6:49 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

The largest U.S. prison in Afghanistan, containing over 3,000 inmates, was handed over to Afghan control this morning. But the transfer was not without controversy. Several dozen prisoners - including some foreign terrorist suspects - were kept in American custody.

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4:37 pm

Mon November 12, 2012