We report results from a multi-method study of Iranian specialists working in American academia. A Qualtrics survey was conducted in early 2023, and a subset of respondents participated in follow up focus groups in 2023. We will be conducting a second round of focus groups with the same individuals in 2024. The survey builds upon our previous 2016 survey; new questions in the 2023 questionnaire asked scholars how their research was affected by events in Iran, Us-Iran relations, and the COVID-19 pandemic. We also added new questions about media outreach and interaction with journalists. The focus groups provided us with more expansive and more nuanced observations to supplement the survey data. Our 2016 survey results picked up references to JCPOA and the 2016 presidential election. The 2023 survey results, supplemented by focus group data, point to a similar awareness and sensitivity to developing events, namely the Women.Life.Freedom protests. The 2023 results show a heightened level of protest activity and public outreach among Iranian/Iranian American-identifying Iran specialists. The increase in civic engagement tracks with comparable surveys of political attitudes among Iranian-Americans more broadly, and sets Iran specialists apart from the general US public. The focus group participants articulated dual strains on their careers. First, in discussing their institutional experiences, they highlighted the impacts of new budget priorities that reflect a mix of enrollment challenges, waning interest in area studies in general and more targeted biases against Iranian Studies specifically. While survey data indicate improved levels of satisfaction with the state of the field and their own careers, it also indicated a persistent gap between individual professional satisfaction and optimism about the “state of the field.” The focus groups filled out the picture for us by noting pressures experienced in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic to justify their institutional presence as distinct areas of specialization. Second, in discussing their own levels of civic and political engagement around Women.Life.Freedom, our focus group participants reported the personal and professional effects of a backlash against them (or colleagues) who publicly challenged the maximalist regime-change rhetoric in the Iranian diaspora. Our 2024 focus group sessions will assess the impact of the war on Gaza on Iran specialists, as Iran’s role in events raised fresh concerns about lending their professional standing publicly to their political views.