Daniel K. Nikbakht

Background

About Daniel K. Nikbakht

Daniel is a Producer with CNN based at its world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously, Daniel was a producer with Al Jazeera Media Network based in New York City. Daniel has secured and produced interviews with Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, Chief Palestinian Negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat, Foreign Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, and US Ambassador to OSCE Dan Baer, among other guests. In November 2015, Daniel covered the aftermath of the Paris Attacks from France and Belgium for primetime news, the morning show, and dayside programming. Daniel field produced daily packages and live hits from the attack sites and the siege on an apartment used by the mastermind of the coordinated attack. As ISIL gained territory in Syria and Iraq, Daniel regularly produced segments with remote guests from Baghdad, Erbil, and cities along the Turkish-Syrian border. He secured an on-set interview in New York with the only Yazidi MP in the Iraqi Parliament, Vian Dakhil, who has accused ISIL of committing genocide against the Yazidi people. In July 2014, Daniel produced primetime coverage of the simultaneous breaking news stories of the downing of MH17 over eastern Ukraine and Israel’s incursion into the Gaza Strip. Since the start of the Euromaidian movement in Ukraine, Daniel produced interviews with Ukrainian protesters and government officials in Kiev and Donetsk, including breaking news coverage of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. In April 2014 as pro-Russian protesters stormed a regional government building in Donetsk, Daniel secured a live shot with Donetsk to interview eyewitnesses who were inside the besieged government building. Daniel is fluent in Farsi, Dari, and Tajiki, and has a basic familiarity with Arabic. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in Public and International Affairs.