Iranian academic at Princeton University accused of publicly supporting terror groups

FIRST ON FOX - A decades-old interview is adding to a widening scandal involving a former high-ranking Iranian official and controversial Princeton professor. Seyed Hossein Mousavian is accused of endorsing Hezbollah and Hamas in a 1997 German newspaper interview.

The new revelations about Mousavian’s pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah interview in a German paper, coupled with what some claim was an endorsement of an Iranian regime fatwa (religious order) ordering the assassination of British-American author Salman Rushdie, comes at a time when the Ivy League professor is the subject of a congressional probe. Mousavian is currently facing a U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce investigation for allegedly advancing the interests of Iran.

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In November, Fox News Digital exclusively reported on the investigation into Mousavian’s ties to the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran. The investigation is ongoing, and the congressional committee has not issued any findings.

In an interview back in 1997 with the left-wing German daily paper Taz, Mousavian, who was Iran’s Ambassador to Germany at the time, was asked if Iran supports groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Mousavian seemed to put his support behind Hamas. "If by that you mean that we supply Hamas with weapons: No, we do not. But if you mean that we support the Palestinians in their struggle, yes, we do."

When asked by the paper if Iran provides Hezbollah support materially or financially, Mousavian said "We support Hezbollah morally and not by supplying weapons."

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The U.S. Middle East Media Research Institute first translated Mousavian’s German language interview earlier this month on its website and provided background material on his alleged role in stoking terrorism in Europe, including the assassination of Kurdish dissidents in a Berlin restaurant named Mykonos in 1992.

Mousavian, a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University, was hosted by the Obama administration, according to the Washington Free Beacon, at least three times at the White House, and invited to speak at an important U.S. STRATCOM military event in August 2023 during the Biden administration

According to the congressional letter, first obtained by Fox News Digital, Mousavian’s appearance at the STRATCOM symposium "concerned members of the Armed Services Committees of both the House and the Senate. Additionally, aspects of this issue trouble us as members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce."

Mousavian told Fox News Digital in November that, "My talk at the U.S. Strategic Command was all about peace in the Middle East and why the U.S. should avoid wars and focus on peace and cooperation." 

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When asked by Fox News Digital if he considers Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations, Mousavian refused to answer numerous Fox News Digital press queries via email, telephone and WhatsApp. Fox News Digital approached Princeton University via telephone and email for comment. The Ivy League institution did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions.

Mousavian also seemed to defend the Iranian-led campaign to assassinate U.S. and British writer Salman Rushdie because the famous novelist depicted the Muslim prophet Muhammad irreverently.

In 2022, a 24-year-old man named Hadi Matar, who is fan of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, allegedly stabbed Rushdie in the neck and liver during the author’s speech in Chautauqua, New York. After the attack, Rushdie lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand.

A Nov. 5, 1992 Reuters report, titled "German Opposition Wants Iranian Envoy Expelled," said that, " ...Hossein Mousavian was summoned to the German Foreign Ministry after remarking in a radio interview that Bonn would not act against its trade interests with Iran to back Rushdie's request for the death decree to be lifted."

The Reuters report continued "Social Democrat Freimut Duve told parliament in a special debate on what has become known as the ‘Rushdie Affair’ that Mousavian should leave Germany as he did not respect its laws."

In the radio interview after Rushdie's appearance, Mousavian defended the historic Islamic practice of imposing the death sentence for blasphemy.

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Mousavian declined to answer numerous Fox News Digital press queries about whether he continues to endorse the Iranian religious decree to murder Rushdie.

Mousavian denied his country’s role in the Iranian state-sponsored murders of the four Kurdish dissidents in the Mykonos restaurant. He termed the Berlin court verdict, which convicted Iranian and Hezbollah operatives of the assassinations, as "nonsense" in the German Taz interview. Mousavian refused to answer Fox News Digital press queries about his rejection of the Berlin court Mykonos verdict.

According to a 1997 article from the Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, Abolghasem Mesbahi, a former senior-level Iranian intelligence official, told a Berlin court during the Mykonos trial, "Mousavian participated in most of the [Iranian regime's] crimes that took place in Europe."

During Mousavian’s tenure as Iran’s ambassador to Germany, he was in charge of the embassy that the Berlin court found "served as the ‘headquarters" for the planning of the 1992 assassination of four Iranian dissidents at the Greek restaurant Mykonos in Berlin."

"This accusation is a big lie," Mousavian told Fox News Digital in November. "The 398-page verdict is published, and everyone can have access to it. The Berlin court verdict does not contain any direct or indirect allegations against me. German authorities never forced me to leave the country. … I have been a frequent visitor to Germany," added Mousavian.

The calls for Mousavian to be fired coincide with the scandal-plagued pro-Iran regime academic, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, who taught at Oberlin College in Ohio.

Mahallati was Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. from 1987-1989. Oberlin College ousted Mahallati in November 2023 after a mushrooming series of scandals, including Mahallati’s pro-Hamas teachings and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. According to Amnesty International, Mahallati covered up the Iranian regime’s mass murder of 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988.

The California-based Alliance Against the Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) spearheaded the high-intensity campaign to fire Mahallati. 

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Iranian American human rights activist Lawdan Bazargan, the lead organizer on the AAIRIA campaign, told Fox News Digital about Mousavian "It is profoundly disheartening that Princeton University would appoint such an individual, allowing him to masquerade as a proponent of peace. To think that an agent of an oppressive Islamic regime, known for its flagrant disregard for religious freedom and its menacing slogans of ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel,’ could have the audacity to proclaim involvement in peace initiatives is nothing short of a cynical farce."

She added, "Princeton's endorsement of Mousavian tarnishes its reputation and undermines the principles of peace, tolerance, and academic integrity it purports to uphold."

AAIRIA urged Princeton to summarily fire Mousavian, who is not a tenured academic, and the NGO announced a protest at Princeton University next week against the controversial academic. Just last month, the National Association of Scholars issued a call to terminate Mousavian’s employment.

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A leading antisemitism expert has claimed that Mousavian’s account contains antisemitic posts against Israel. Mousavian falsely claimed in an October X post that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza and termed it "a crime similar to the Holocaust of Nazi Germany." 

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Fox News Digital that "Cleary, this is a person who feels no matter what he does that his status will be protected at Princeton."

Regarding Mousavian comparing Israel with the crimes of Nazi Germany, Cooper said "that anyone who uses that language is proving his antisemitic credentials. He feels confident and is immune from any action against him."

A Fox News Digital examination of Mousavain’s X Posts since Oct. 7 shows the overwhelming number of posts are attacks on the Jewish state and support of many Hamas talking points, including that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

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Cooper said "I think Princeton has a lot to answer for," and Mousavian should be disqualified as an academic in American higher education.

"To say this is a scandal would not give justice to the issues exposed. It might be time to call Princeton University forward at a congressional hearing because it covers issues of sensitive national security, "said Cooper, who has testified in Congress about antisemitism.