Who is Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi?
Did you know that Prof. Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, Chairman of Princeton University’s Near Eastern Studies Department, has very close ties to the highest echelons of Iran’s ruling regime, Tehran’s DC-based lobby arm National Iranian American Council (NIAC), and promotes Iran’s talking points in American universities?
He is also a staunch BDS supporter.
Ghamari-Tabrizi can be described as an Iran apologist/lobbyist. To prove this, here’s a ten-minute compilation video of his own words describing in detail his close ties with the mullahs’ regime in Iran, and how he pushes Tehran’s narrative in the U.S.
Some “Iran experts” in America’s most elite universities have close ties with Iran’s regime and diligently work to promote Tehran’s interests. Ghamari-Tabrizi is one of them.
To get an understanding of Ghamari Tabrizi ties to the highest echelons of Iran’s ruling regime, the website of the Secretariat of Iran’s Assembly of Experts endorses Ghamari-Tabrizi’s work.
The Assembly of Experts consists of 85 members, all vetted and carefully selected through a process supervised by the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, are tasked to appoint the next Supreme Leader following the former’s death.
Ghamari-Tabrizi actively pushes Iran’s talking points in mainstream media. In a February 2017 article titled “A Paradigm Shift in the Middle East: Iran as the Solution, Not the Problem,” he states the following:
—“But why, despite the clear evidence to the contrary, are the U.S. and its allies in the region hold Iran solely responsible for destabilizing the Middle East? There are two, one geo-political and the other pure economic, reasons for such a flagrant distortion of realities on the ground.”
—“Domestically, Iran has also changed significantly since the brutal years of the 1980s reign of terror. There exists a vibrant and growing civil society… I do not intend to draws a rosy picture of Iran, the Islamic Republic is not a democratic regime, but in all cases it is certainly more democratic than all our allies in the region.
What is quite interesting is how Ghamari-Tabrizi uses America’s left leaning/progress universities to push the talking points of#Iran’s regime that considers America as the “Great Satan” and its number one enemy.
Princeton – Stanford – University of Illinois – UCLA - Northwestern
Common talking point of Iran apologists/lobbyists—“sanctions hurt Iran’s people”. This is parroted by Ghamari-Tabrizi.
Here’s what they won’t tell you:
—Iran's former Foreign Ministry spokesperson—"medicine and food, as you know, were not on any sanctions"
—Iran's state media confirms that food and medicine have not been sanctioned
—Iran’s regime rejected international aid while also banning American and British Covid vaccines
Ghamari-Tabrizi is also the Director of Princeton’s “Sharman and Bijan Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies.” Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani is Chief Investment Officer of Private Wealth Managementt at Goldman Sachs. Bijan is the Executive Chairman of RAK Petroleum.
Bijan founded the “Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies Program” with a $10 million “gift” to Princeton.
Interesting to see Tabrizi, a hard left professor, taking money Goldman/oil money, and then pushing Iran talking points and bashing America!
Princeton is also home to Seyed Hassan Mousavian, the former Iranian regime ambassador to Germany who oversaw the September 1992 Mykonos restaurant killing of four Iranian Kurdish dissidents.
He was indicted by a German court in 1997.
Ghamari-Tabrizi is a member of Iran’s DC-based lobby arm NIAC.
He hosts talks with NIAC founder Trita Parsi, former NIAC member Negar Mortazavi, and Iran apologist Ellie Geranmayeh.
Parsi has close ties with Iran.
Listen to this Iranian regime insider explain that NIAC (officially founded by Trita Parsi) was established by Iran's former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The Obama administration was in bed with Iran’s regime and its lobby group NIAC, according to State Department emails.
“I have chatted with NIAC folks over the years”
“we do have a relationship with NIAC”
NIAC sought the Obama admin’s advice on paying President Clinton for a speech.
Former NIAC member and leading Iran apologist/lobbyist Negar Mortazavi
Mortazavi is close to Zarif and, interestingly, Ilhan Omar.
In September 2015 she attended an event where then Iranian regime president Hassan Rouhani delivered a speech at the Hotel Hilton in New York.
For those interested, see this thread about Negar Mortazavi’s links to the Biden administration.
Ghamari-Tabrizi in a discussion with Mortazavi and Assal Rad.
Who is Assal Rad? “Senior Research Fellow at NIAC”
Ghamari-Tabrizi’s work is supported by Mahsa Alimardani, who also has close ties with Iran’s DC-based lobby arm NIAC, and is quite fond of Iran’s regime, Qassem Soleimani, and Zarif.
Maryland University’s Roshan Institute for Persian Studies is in agreement with Ghamari-Tabrizi. This is no coincidence.
Ebrahim Mohseni of Maryland University (who has close ties with Trita Parsi) is an Iran apologist/lobbyists who publishes fake pro-regime polls. Mohseni is a protégé of Mohammad Marandi, a senior advisor to Iran’s current nuclear negotiating team.
Ghamari-Tabrizi is a supporter of the Obama/Biden appeasement policies vis-à-vis Iran. In May 2018, he signed an open letter along with Parsi “to save the Iran nuclear deal.”
Iran received $152 billion from the 2015 deal, using it to support Assad and terrorists. Biden’s deal will reportedly provide Iran access to $1 trillion in five years.
As mentioned earlier, Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, a professor at Princeton University, is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi can certainly be described as ideologically associated with Codepink. Codepink members regularly visit Iran and have very close ties with the regime.
Stanford Universities’ “Iranian Studies” works closely with Ghamari-Tabrizi.
Stanford University is no coincidence, either. On July 13, 2020, NIAC’s Lily Sarafan began a six-year term on the university’s Board of Trustees. Sarafan also enjoys close ties with senior U.S. officials.
Trita Parsi and NIAC advised Bita Daryabari to become involved in US universities.
Stanford University has the “Bita Prize for Persian Arts,” making Daryabari more popular among this university and allowing her to influence the youth.
Who is Bita Darybari?
She’s the founder of the Pars Equality Center, an Iranian-run entity in the U.S. that is not very transparent and has telling relations with Iran’s lobby arms in the U.S., including NIAC and PAAIA.
Princeton hired Ghamari-Tabrizi in 2019 despite his history with Iran’s regime. Princeton ideology bent to promote Iran’s interests while their PhD candidate Xiyue Wang was in an Iranian prison as an American hostage.
Ghamari-Tabrizi never once mentioned a word about Wang’s situation or urged Iran to release him and other hostages. All the while, he was eulogizing Tehran’s regime with his numerous articles in various outlets.
Ghamari-Tabrizi simply just does not deserve to be a Princeton professor, let alone the chair of their Department of Near Eastern Studies, one of the oldest such departments in America.
Regarding the earlier mentioned Mossavar-Rahmanis of Princeton University, I recommend also reading this thread about their close ties with Amir Handjani, another Iran apologist/lobbyist that has remained mostly under the radar.
For those interested in learning about other Iran “experts” / “academics” / “professors” similar to Ghamari-Tabrizi in other American universities, I recommend reading this thread.
Highly recommend this great investigative piece by Heshmat Alavi revealing the extended network of pro Iranian regime activists and lobbyists disguised as “independent” academics, journalists etc., to push Iran’s narratives in America.