Born: 1963

Province: Badakhshan

Ethnicity: Tajik

Pedram, a poet, writer and politician, completed his primary education in his hometown province of Badakshan.

He earned a degree in Dari language and literature from Kabul University. Pedram has received his higher education from the Institute for Research in Philosophy in Tehran and studied philosophy and history. He had a close friendship with an Iranian poet, Ahmad Shamlo.

He has written poems and books on literature. Pedram was initially a supporter of the communist government during the war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan, but eventually he opposed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and joined Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Pedram, along with a number of other intellectuals, writers and journalists who had joined the resistance against Soviet forces, founded the Mujahideen Council’s Journal.

He started giving lectures in journalism to the cultural committee of the council and spent most of his years in Afghanistan during the war. Pedram, who was promoting a separatist policy based on language and ethnic groups, was expelled amid the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

He spent time in France during part of the Taliban regime era, where he promoted Persian poetry and literature. Pedram has a master’s degree in Islamic studies from the Sorbonne University, Paris. He continued his opposition to the Taliban from France.

Pedram is the co-founder and head of the Afghanistan National Congress party (Hezb-e-Kongara Milli Afghanistan). He has been an MP for Badakhshan since 2004.

He picked Ihsanullah Haidar, a Hazara, and Mohammad Sadiq Wardak as his first and second vice presidents, respectively.