Image courtesy of International Peace Institute
If there is one state that bears responsibility for an outsized share of suffering and instability in the Middle East, it is Iran. An autocracy that subsidizes an alarming portfolio of regional terrorism, the Islamic Republic is hostile to the U.S. and poses grave threats to Israel, other sovereign states in the Middle East, and its own people. But as it presses towards nuclear status, Iran has found plenty of apologists to cover for its dismal humanitarian record.
Among these is Seyyed Hossein Mousavian, former diplomat for the Ayatollah, and the Iranian regime’s unofficial flagbearer today – and he’s on Princeton University’s payroll. Mousavian’s case should be reassuring that no matter where you’ve been, which totalitarians you serve, or what crimes you are connected to, our University will welcome you.
Mousavian was raised by a merchant family in Kashan, Iran. While his father had strong ties to the Motalefeh, a middle-class party that in the 1960s supplied grassroots support to Ayatollah Khomeini, Mousavian made his way into the nascent regime independently. In 1980, the year after the Iranian Revolution, Mousavian became the young Editor-in-Chief of the Tehran Times, the mouthpiece of the Islamic Republican Party. The newspaper’s public loyalty to Khomeini before and during his rise to power cemented Mousavian’s enduring influence over the new order.
By the mid-1980s, Mousavian’s influence reached deep within the state. He worked closely with future President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was the Chairman of Parliament and an intimate of Khomeini. Mousavian was only one step removed from the ear of the Supreme Leader himself.
In the 1990s, Mousavian was appointed as Iran’s ambassador to Germany. It was critical for Tehran to have smooth trade relations, especially since European manufacturers could supply the refined products Iran needed for its expanding nuclear ambitions.
But efforts to improve trade with the West didn’t go as planned. In 1992, Iranian dissidents were publicly assassinated in Berlin at a Mykonos Greek restaurant. Mousavian likely knew about the plot, and may even have helped the assassins by headquartering them in his embassy. Mousavian called the Mykonos incident “the work of the Americans,” but years later a German court ruled that top officials in Iran had ordered the killings. The Iranian Embassy had been implicated in other conspiracies, including the threatening of a dissident Iranian artist, who was later stabbed to death. Germany requested Mousavian’s removal, and Iran withdrew him.
Mousavian served on the Iran Security Council from 1997 to 2005. But he lost face in the regime when, in 2009, Rafsanjani opposed the selection of Ahmadinejad as President, against Ayatollah Khamenei’s wishes. This move made Rafsanjani a political pariah – and he advised Mousavian to get out of Iran.
After leaving Iran, Mousavian’s influence over Western politics persisted. Under Obama, he was Iran’s de facto ambassador to the U.S., and had significant influence on U.S. foreign policy, directly counseling the White House on the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. Princeton University has since welcomed Mousavian to the Science and Global Security program. He still works at this University as the Middle East Security and Nuclear Policy Specialist, penning articles portraying Iran as fundamentally congenial to U.S. interests, and especially advocating a nuclear deal favorable to the Iranian regime.
Even in forced exile, Mousavian has kept his nation’s interests first, even (allegedly) at the expense of Princeton students. History doctoral student Xiyue Wang was imprisoned and tortured for years by Iran on fabricated charges of spying; Wang alleges that he could have been freed earlier had Mousavian reached out to his contacts in the Iranian government. Mousavian’s silence, when Tablet asked him directly about this matter, is telling.
Princeton University’s willingness to abide by Mousavian is also telling. After Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian commander, was killed in a U.S. drone strike, Mousavian honored him by attending his funeral. The U.S. had designated Soleimani a terrorist, along with his elite military Quds Force. Afterwards, Mousavian appeared in a documentary praising Soleimani, boasting about the fear Iran caused former U.S. Special Representative Brian Hook’s family when it threatened to kill Hook. Princeton has since faced increased scrutiny for employing him, and others – such as UANI, a bipartisan group of foreign policy experts – have called for his dismissal.
Even since his expatriation, Mousavian’s sympathies for the Iranian regime have not abated. Iran has the second-worst human rights ranking in the world (just above China) – and according to former Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Mousavian “believes in and is completely tied to” the Islamic Republic and “is currently working hard” for it. Yet Princeton University, perhaps fearing backlash from its now decade-old Iran Center, continues to harbor Mousavian. At least, until his running defense for the rogue state is no longer so palatable – or as easy to get away with.
The above is an opinion contribution and reflects the author’s views alone.
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