Jaffar Yaghoobi was born in Tabriz, Iran where he finished his Bachelor of Science degree in 1971. After receiving his Ph.d in genetics from UC Davis Jaffar Yaghoobi and his wife returned to Iran shortly after the victory of the revolution of 1979 with the hope of being part of that great historic moment and to help their country. After an arrest and years in different prisons in Iran, Yaghoobi was released and, in this interview, gives a contemporary historical context to current events in Iran.