Rudi Bakhtiar is the lead news anchor for CNN Headline News' late show Headline News Tonight. Bakhtiar anchored the network's coverage of Operation Enduring Freedom as well as that from Operation Iraqi Freedom in the spring of 2003. She is based in CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, and has been with CNN since 1996.

Bakhtiar was on the air live when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks began. She reported throughout that day and has continued to cover the unfolding event as the crisis turned into a search-and-rescue mission that evolved into a war on terrorism. In 2002, Bakhtiar traveled to Jerusalem to produce reports on the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Previously, Bakhtiar was a co-anchor of CNN Student News, the 30-minute, commercial-free news and features program designed specifically for use in the classroom. She provided multiple reports for the network while on assignment from numerous countries including South Africa, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Mali.

Bakhtiar has been honored for her work, most recently, with the 2002 Iranian American Republican Council Achievement Award in recognition of Outstanding Achievements, Excellence and Accomplishments within the Iranian American community.
Bakhtiar joined CNN in 1996 as an intern in the Los Angeles bureau and relocated to the network's world headquarters in Atlanta in 1997 as a video journalist for CNN International. She was a segment producer for CNNfn and helped launch four new business programs on CNN International.

Throughout her career with CNN, Bakhtiar has worked on programs including CNN Impact, CNNfn's Asia Biz and various shows on CNN International.
In 2002, Bakhtiar was recognized by Lycos as one of the top 20 most popular television news personalities in the broadcast news industry.
Bakhtiar was raised in Iran and earned a bachelor's degree in science from the University of California, Los Angeles.