Iranian Ex-Officials Living in US, Canada Facing Increased Scrutiny

Oberlin College in the US state of Ohio has recently dismissed its professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, a former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations’ headquarters, from his teaching position and sent him on "indefinite leave." 

The decision comes as Canadian authorities have launched proceedings against Iranians with ties to the Islamic Republic, including former Deputy Interior Minister Seyed Salman Samani.

The moves suggest that Western countries are becoming increasingly sensitive to the presence of individuals responsible for human rights abuses.

Mahallati’s dismissal was the result of sustained pressure from various groups, including human rights activists and families of victims of the 1988 killing of thousands of political prisoners in Iran.

These groups have campaigned for Mahallati’s removal for three years, organizing protests outside Oberlin College and collaborating with human rights organizations to expose his role in the massacre.

In a report released last year, Amnesty International said that the Iranian authorities' “refusal to acknowledge let alone ensure accountability for the 1988 prison massacres – the worst incident of secret mass killings committed since the establishment of Islamic Republic of Iran – has perpetuated cycles of crimes under international law and cover-ups designed to extinguish any form of political opposition."

The London-based group pointed to the involvement of Mahallati in this cover-up.

Mahallati holds academic degrees from the National University of Iran and the University of Oregon, the University of Kansas, as well as a doctorate from McGill University in Canada.

A spokesperson for Oberlin College confirmed that he has been placed on indefinite administrative leave since November 28.

The reason was not officially disclosed, but The New York Post reported that the dismissal was linked to revelations regarding a sexual relationship he had with a student. 

In 1997, Columbia University reportedly settled a lawsuit filed by the student.

Activists involved in the campaign against Mahallati believe that his involvement in the killings of political prisoners and his anti-Semitic and anti-Baha'i statements contributed to his dismissal.

Laden Bazargan, the sister of a prisoner executed in 1988, played a role in the campaign. She expresses hope that Mahallati will be deported for his involvement in crimes against humanity. 

"The university's decision to terminate Mahallati’s contract was influenced by various factors, including his support for [former Supreme Leader Ruhollah] Khomeini's fatwa to kill [Indian-British author] Salman Rushdie, his statements in class characterizing Hamas as a resistance organization," she tells IranWire. 

Meanwhile, Global News reported that Samani, who was found living in Toronto, faces a deportation case.

Samani was appointed deputy Interior minister in 2016. It is not clear when he left the position.

Samani is not the only former Iranian official facing possible expulsion from Canada under sanctions introduced in November 2022 that banned senior officials of the Islamic Republic from the North American country. 

The country’s Border Services Agency said it had begun proceedings against 10 Iranians, including Ruhollah Firouznam, an Iranian-born computer engineer accused of heading a company that installed security cameras inside and outside prisons in Iran. 

Firouznam entered Canada on a tourist visa in 2018, applied for asylum with his family, and, according to the latest news, a judge in Ontario ordered his deportation earlier this year.

In recent weeks, Canadian media reported the presence of over 700 individuals associated with the Iranian government on Canadian soil. 

Human rights activists are hopeful that continued pressure on the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will make the country an unsafe place for individuals linked to dictatorial regimes and human rights violators.

In the United States, Laden Bazargan, a member of the Revolutionary Council of Petitioners - which groups families of victims of the Islamic Republic's crimes - tells IranWire that their efforts will not be limited to Mahalati’s expulsion.

"We ask Oberlin University to refrain from paying Mahalati any salary or granting him a pension, instead opting to build a memorial to our loved ones and educate the public about the crimes of the Iranian regime,” Bazargan says. “They must compensate for the two decades during which they provided a platform to a criminal."

According to Bazargan, the organization is also planning to pursue Hossein Mousaviyan, a former Iranian ambassador to Germany who is working as a researcher at Princeton University.

Mousaviyan's tenure as ambassador coincided with the assassinations of dissidents in Iran. Fereydoun Farrokhzad, an artist and opponent of the Islamic Republic, was murdered in Germany while Mousaviyan was the ambassador. 

Mousaviyan has denied knowledge of these events, but his critics maintain that, as the Iranian envoy to Berlin, he bears responsibility for the actions of the Islamic Republic in Germany.

The arrest and trial in Sweden of Hamid Noury, the assistant prosecutor of Gohardasht prison during the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, has instilled hope among human rights activists that rights violators can finally be held accountable. 

Last year, a court in Stockholm sentenced Noury to life imprisonment. The case is currently awaiting appeal.