Dr. Seyed Hossein Mousavian
By Olivia Sanchez and Lia Opperman, The Daily Princetonian
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced on Thursday, Nov. 16 that it is launching an investigation into University research fellow and former Iranian official Seyed Hossein Mousavian, amid allegations that Mousavian is using his position to advance the interests of Iran.
Mousavian was criticized in the pages of the ‘Prince’ in February 2022 by two former State Department officials because Mousavian smiled while discussing death threats against a US diplomat in an Iranian documentary. Mousavian was defended at the time by Professor Frank von Hippel who described criticism as “a hatchet job against a political opponent.”
The investigation cites two kidnappings of Princeton graduate students: graduate student Elizabeth Tsurkov’s kidnapping in March by a militia linked to the IRGC while conducting research in Baghdad, Iraq, and the recently settled case of former graduate student Xiyue Wang, who filed a lawsuit against the University for their alleged negligence during his 40 months as a hostage in Iran. A letter to President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 asks if Mousavian used his contacts to secure their release.
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