Borzou Daragahi, 42, is the North Africa correspondent for the Financial Times, which he joined in 2011 after leaving the Los Angeles Times. He has covered war and politics, commerce and culture in the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan for various print and broadcast outlets since 2002.

He covered the build-up, conflict phase and aftermath of the war in Iraq from 2002 to 2007 first as a freelance journalist and later as bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times. He was recognized as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in international journalism for his coverage of Iraq in 2005, as part of a team of Los Angeles Times reporters in 2007, and for his coverage of the 2009 uprising after the disputed elections in Iran.

Born in Iran, Borzou grew up in Chicago and New York and has lived in Germany, France, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. He currently resides with his wife, Le Figaro correspondent Delphine Minoui, in Egypt. He received his bachelors’ degree from the Eugene Lang College of the New School for Social Research and a masters’ degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.