Mohammad Marandi

Seyed Mohammad Marandi (Persian: سید محمد مرندی; born 1966 in Richmond, Virginia) is an Iranian American academic and political analyst. He is the son of Alireza Marandi, a physician who has served in Iran's government as Minister of Health as well as a Member of Parliament.

Seyed Mohammad Marandi

Early life and education

Mohammad Marandi was born in Richmond, Virginia and spent the first 13 years of his life in the United States. Following his return to Iran, he volunteered to fight in the Iran-Iraq war and survived two chemical weapons attacks.[1]

Marandi is a graduate of the University of Tehran and Birmingham University (UK), where his PhD thesis was entitled "Lord Byron, his critics and Orientalism", described as a "response to Edward Said's Orientalism".[2]

Career

Marandi was the head of the North American Studies program at the University of Tehran;[1] he is currently a professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the university.[3]

Marandi has appeared as a political and social commentator on international news networks such as PBS, ABC, CGTN, CNN,[4] BBC,[5] Al Jazeera,[6] and RT. He has also contributed opinion pieces to publications such as Al Jazeera,[7] Middle East Eye,[3] and Tehran Times.[8]

He is an adviser to the Iranian nuclear negotiations team in Vienna.[9]

Following the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, Marandi wrote "I won't be shedding tears for a writer who spouts endless hatred & contempt for Muslims & Islam."[10] Marandi also alluded to a conspiracy theory suggesting that the action reflected an attempt by Iran's enemies to harm its image, writing "is it a coincidence that just when we are on the verge of revitalising the nuclear agreement, America makes claims about an attempted assassination of Bolton and then this happens?"[11] Marandi's statement referenced the United States Department of Justice's allegation that Iran had planned to assassinate US national security advisor John Bolton in 2020.[12]

Controversy

A day after the August 2022 knife attack on author Salman Rushdie, Marandi wrote on Twitter: "I won't be shedding tears for a writer who spouts endless hatred and contempt for Muslims and Islam."[13][14][15] The Arab Center Washington DC called the remark "troubling".[16]

Written works
  • "Oppressors and Oppressed Reconsidered: A Shi‘itologic Perspective on the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah’s Outlook on International Relations" (with Raffaele Mauriello) in Islam and International Relations: Contributions to Theory and Practice, Springer, 2015, pp. 50–71.
  • "The Khamenei Doctrine: Iran’s leader on diplomacy, foreign policy and international relations" (with Raffaele Mauriello) in Islam in International Relations: Politics and Paradigms, Routledge, 2018, pp. 18–38.

Sources
  1. "Man with a Country". Guernica. 5 February 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  2. Database
  3. "Seyed Mohammad Marandi". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  4. "Fareed Zakaria Interviews Iranian "Regime" Spokesman Professor Mohammed Marandi". Moneycontrol.com. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  5. "BBC Doha Debate November 9, 2009". Youtube. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  6. AlJazeeraEnglish. "Iranian professor "defends" executions". Youtube. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  7. "Seyed Mohammad Marandi | Al Jazeera News | Today's latest from Al Jazeera". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  8. "Mohammad Marandi". Tehran Times. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  9. Tamara Qiblawi and Mostafa Salem. "Trump's shadow looms over last ditch effort to revive Iran nuclear deal". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  10. "Marandi: Claims on Bolton assassination, Rushdie attack before nuclear agreement odd news". Islamic Republic News Agency. 13 August 2022. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  11. "Salman Rushdie attack: Iranians react with mixture of praise and concern". The Guardian. 13 August 2022. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  12. Rabinowitz, Hannah; Cohen, Marshall; Hansler, Jennifer & Atwood, Kylie (10 August 2022). "US Justice Department charges Iranian with trying to assassinate John Bolton". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  13. "Iran conservative media hail Salman Rushdie attacker". France 24. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  14. "Adviser to Iran's nuclear negotiating team 'won't shed tears' over Salman Rushdie attack". Arab News. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  15. Hafezi, Parisa (14 August 2022). "Rushdie's stabbing highlights divisions in Iranian society". Reuters. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  16. "About - Research Organization". Arab Center Washington DC. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
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