The National Association of Scholars (NAS) applauds the departure of Seyed Houssein Mousavian from Princeton University. After a 15-year stint as a Visiting Research Collaborator at Princeton’s Program on Science and Global Security, Mousavian is retiring from the university. This move comes as Princeton is under federal scrutiny for anti-Semitism and other Title VI-related investigations. The government has frozen $210 million in grant funding to the university, including from agencies such as NASA, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense.
From the outset, Mousavian’s position at Princeton posed a threat to national security and tarnished the university’s credibility. Mousavian worked as Iran’s ambassador to Germany during the 1990s, when multiple Iranian critics and dissidents were murdered. Following this, Mousavian later worked as one of Iran’s top nuclear negotiators with the West. He also supported the Iranian government’s fatwa against author Salman Rushdie for this work, The Satanic Verses. Mousavian used his position at Princeton to influence public debate. Last March, the NAS called for Princeton to sever ties with Mousavian, joining multiple critics who called for his firing or resignation.
Sayed Hossein Mousavian’s resignation is a welcome sign of change at Princeton.
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