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Kaveh Lotfollah Afrasiabi (Persian:کاوه لطف الله افراسیابی, born 1958) is anIranian-Americanpolitical scientist and author, living inBoston, Massachusetts.
In January 2021, Afrasiabi was arrested by the FBI on charges of working as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government. On September 18, 2023, Afrasiabi received apresidential pardon by PresidentJoe Biden as part ofan Iran–United States prisoner release mediated byQatar.[1]
Afrasiabi is a prominent Iranian-American political scientist and author of more than thirty five books on Iran, Middle East, international affairs, theology, as well as novels, plays, and poetry books.[2][better source needed] Afrasiabi gained a PhD in Political Science fromBoston University in 1998, with a thesis titled "State and Populism in Iran" under the supervision of historianHoward Zinn.[3][4] Afrasiabi has also studied theology at Andover-Newton Theological School and has published a seminal article on communicative theology in Harvard Theological Review.[5] Afrasiabi's articles have repeatedly appeared in the UN Chronicle, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, London's the Guardian, and the New York Times.[6] Afrasiabi has won a number of literary awards including the Spring 2024 award by literature.com for the best short story, titled Love and Death in Iran.[7][failed verification]
Afrasiabi has taught political science at theUniversity of Tehran,Boston University, andBentley University.[8][9] Afrasiabi has been a visiting scholar atHarvard University (1989-1990),[10]University of California, Berkeley (2000-2001),[11]Binghamton University (2001-2002)[12] and theCenter for Strategic Research, Tehran. Afrasiabi has authored several books and numerous scholarly articles on the subject of Iran's foreign and nuclear policies, including in Columbia Journal of International Affairs, Harvard International Review, and Brown's Journal of World Affairs. During 2004-2005, Afrasiabi was involved as an advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiation team and in various books, articles, and TV interviews fully supported the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as a "win-win.".[13]
Afrasiabi has been a consultant to theUnited Nations "Dialogue Among Civilizations", for which he interviewed the former Iranian president,Mohammad Khatami.[14] Afrasiabi is a member of the advisory board of theCampaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran. Afrasiabi is also the founder of the inter-faith group, Global Interfaith Peace, and has repeatedly called for mandatory education in Iran on the Holocaust.[citation needed]
Afrasiabi is a permanent resident of the U.S., living in Boston, Massachusetts.[15]
From 1996 to 2003, Afrasiabi was involved in a legal conflict withRoy Mottahedeh, former director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies atHarvard University, who had been his superior during Afrasiabi's time as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, and Harvard University itself. The conflict started with an alleged extortion against Mottahedeh's subordinates and a "pre-dawn" arrest of Afrasiabi by Harvard police, and terminated in 2003 with a civil rights case against Harvard, Mottahedeh after Afrasiabi's exoneration and after a high-profile ten-day jury trial in the federal court in Boston ultimately reached theSupreme Court of the United States,[10][16][17] in which Afrasiabi acted as his ownattorney, alleging that he was a victim of gross human rights abuses at Harvard. During associated controversies, Afrasiabi was supported byMike Wallace of the US television program60 Minutes,[18] authorDavid Mamet,[19] linguistNoam Chomsky, former Iran deputy oil minister Farhang Mehr and political scientistHoward Zinn.[20]
Afrasiabi was arrested in the U.S. on January 18, 2021, foracting as an unregistered agent of Iran.[15][21]
He strongly denied the charges against him and represented himself in court, arguing that his limited international affairs consulting was perfectly legal under the UN guidelines and that it had no bearing on any of his publications, some of which are very critical of Iran, particularly on restricted elections and women's rights in Iran; Afrasiabi has published a feminist novel and a poetry book in defense of women's rights in Iran. According to Professor Chomsky, in a letter to the court, Afrasiabi collaborated with him for the successful release of three American hikers held in Iran. He was released on bail in January 2021, and ultimately all the charges against him were dropped at the pre-trial stage on September 18, 2023 as part of a presidential pardon.
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