American expert on Iran, Alireza Nader, told the Jerusalem Post last week that former Iranian regime nuclear negotiator Seyed Hossein Mousavian, who expressed a desire for the former Islamic Republic president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to have built an atomic bomb, has a goal which is to “advance Iran’s nuclear weapons program all along. But why does Princeton continue to present this dangerous man as a trustworthy academic?”
Mousavian previously told an Iranian regime-controlled news outlet, “If I was the decision-maker [during the Ahmadinejad era] … I would have produced a nuclear bomb.” Nader added “It’s incredible that the Obama and Biden administrations relied on Mousavian as a credible interlocutor and advocate on the nuclear issue.”
Nader’s criticism of the pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah academic, Mousavian, who teaches at Princeton University, comes amid a slated Thursday demonstration against the former Iranian official in front of the Körber Foundation in Hamburg, Germany.
A multi-pronged international campaign launched by the California-based Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) is demanding that Körber and Princeton sever ties with Mousavian.
Mina Ahadi, a prominent Iranian dissident in Germany, is spearheading the Hamburg protest against Mousvaian. In a public letter to the director of Körber, Lothar Dietmar, Ahadi wrote, “Mousavian has been active in the Iranian government since his youth and served as ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Germany under the governments of [Akbar] Rafsanjani and [Mohammad] Khatami. He is accused of being involved in the killings of at least 24 opponents of the Islamic Republic abroad, including the Mykonos massacre.”
Iranian regime and Hezbollah operatives assassinated Iranian Kurdish dissidents in the West Berlin Mykonos restaurant in 1992, according to a 1997 Berlin court verdict.
Ahadi continued that Mousavian “represents a government based on crime and sexual apartheid that creates insecurity around the world by supporting terrorist groups. Despite these facts, he claims to be an advocate for peace.
“Your foundation should, in view of the history of its founder, Kurt Körber, who produced military equipment using forced labor during the Nazi era, make a special effort not to make concessions to the terrorist regime in Iran and to avoid such eyesores.”
Walls are closing in
The walls are closing in on Mousavian, according to his critics. In April, Iranian-Americans and German-Iranians staged a demonstration against Mousavian in front of Princeton University. Mousavian lashed out at the peaceful protestors, many of whom were victims of the Islamic Republic’s assassination attempts and brutal penal system.
Daniel Killy, a German Jew and a member of the advisory board of the Jewish Community of Hamburg, told the Post, “It is absolutely unbearable that the Körber foundation has been and still is engaging Mr. Mousavian. His hands are soaked with the blood of innocent Iranians, he is part of a murderous regime in Tehran that is desperately trying to erase Israel through its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah.
“It is also a shame that a foundation like Körber, ‘striving to mold a vivid civic society’ (their own words) is actively silencing the Iranian opposition here in Hamburg by inviting apologists of the Mullah regime. Körber should immediately stop all contact with Mr. Mousavian and sack the people within their foundation being responsible for the invitations over the years.”
Gazelle Sharmahd, whose father, the German national and journalist Jamshid, who was kidnapped by Iran’s regime and sentenced to death, told the Post “Körber has been criticized by the Iranian diaspora for staging regime-affiliated Moussavian and should have severed their relationship with him a long time ago. No think tank in our democratic countries should be advertising regime propaganda disguised as ‘diplomatic tactics’ and ‘academic research.’
“These are not diplomats or academics. Moussavian is known to have spent his life serving the Islamic regime, working for regime-affiliated Tehran Times, at the regime’s national security council, and as an ambassador of the regime to Germany during the chain murders of dissidents abroad, which were linked to the embassy during his time.”
Sharmahd, who is a well-known human rights advocate in Germany and in the United States, where she lives, added, “He poses as a peace promoter while simultaneously attending the funeral of Islamic Republic Guard Corps commander Soleimani, who killed Americans and called Hamas a school of thought.’ Now, he is continuing to promote the goals of the regime as a hired scholar at Princeton University.
“Universities and think tanks, like Körber and SWP (German Institute for International and Security Affairs), who frequently push the narrative and goals of the Islamic regime as ‘expert advice’ to our public and governments, should be investigated because that is abnormal.”
She continued by saying “All groups, whose mother communities have been suppressed by the jihadist machine, should stand with the Iranian community to sever these destructive and dangerous relationships, including the Lebanese, Afghan, Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni and particularly the Jewish community, who have been massively targeted by antisemitic violence and propaganda.”
Körber has zealously promoted Mousavian at its foundation events over the years, including in May and on its X feed. Mousavian has also been plagued by allegations that he stokes modern antisemitism. After Hamas invaded Israel on October 7 and slaughtered nearly 1,200 people, including the German-Israeli tattoo artist Shani Louk, Mousavian compared Israel to Nazi Germany on his X account. Mousavian falsely claimed in an October X post that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza and termed it “a crime similar to the Holocaust of Nazi Germany.”
Mousavian previously endorsed the Iranian regime fatwa to murder the British-American writer Salman Rushdie because the author wrote passages in his novel “The Satanic Verses” that, according to Iran’s regime, depicted the Prophet Muhammad in blasphemous terms.
When approached by the Post, Julian Claaßen a spokesman for Körber, said “As Körber-Stiftung, we stand up for the fundamental values of our constitution, including the inviolability of human dignity and the prohibition of discrimination based on gender, origin, language, background, faith, or political views.”
He added, “It has always been essential for our democracy to acknowledge the lessons of the Nazi reign of terror and to commit to the principles of the rule of law, the independence of the media, and the inalienability of human rights. We firmly oppose any political movement that questions these values and threatens our open society. It is our policy not to tolerate extremist ideas or individuals who use hatred, incitement, or violence against our democracy.”
When asked if Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations, Claaßen refused to specifically say. Germany and the United States both classify Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.
Körber’s spokesman also declined to say if Mousavian’s comparison between Israel and the Hitler movement is antisemitism. The Federal German government has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, or IHRA definition, which defines a comparison between the German Nazi regime and Israel’s democracy as an expression of antisemitism.
When pressed about Mousavian’s endorsement of the fatwa to murder Rushdie, who barely survived an assassination attempt on his life in 2022 by an American Muslim animated by Iran’s Islamist terrorist ideology, Körber refused to comment. Körber would not explicitly say if it agrees or disagrees with Mousavian’s promotion of the murder of Rushdie. Mousavian has not renounced his defense of the fatwa.
Hamburg’s commissioner to support Jewish life and combat antisemitism, Stefan Hensel, told the Post with respect to questions about Mouavian and his alleged antisemitism that “I fully support the IHRA definition and am committed to its adoption in Hamburg.
”Unfortunately, I cannot comment substantively on the specific allegations as the breadth and depth of this issue transcends my present competencies. I believe that my stance towards the Iranian regime and support for the Iranian opposition are well known.”
The Körber Foundation is funded by Körber AG. According to its website, Körber is an international technology group with more than 12,000 employees at over 100 locations worldwide“ and is involved in Digital, Pharma, Supply Chain, and Technologies. Körber, which has business locations in the United States, posted sales in fiscal year 2023 totaling 2.9 billion euros.
Henriette Viebig, a spokeswoman for Körber AG, told the Post, “Körber is committed to freedom and democracy” and noted, “We are as committed to the fundamental values of our German constitution as our owner, the Körber-Stiftung. Our firm belief is that human dignity is inviolable and that no one should be discriminated against on account of their gender, origin, language or background, faith, or political beliefs. It is essential for our democracy to uphold the principles of the rule of law, the independence of the media, and the inalienability of human rights.
“We oppose any political movement that calls these values into question and threatens our open society, such as extremist ideas, people who act with hatred, incitement, or violence against our democracy. And we encourage everyone to take responsibility and stand up for our fundamental values of freedom. In this way, we want to contribute to civic cohesion and a vibrant democracy.”
Viebig declined, following the posture of the Körber Foundation spokesman, to provide the Post with specific answers to detailed questions about whether Körber agrees with the German and US government classification of Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. Viebig also refused to say if Mousavian’s comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany is antisemitic. She went silent about the question of whether Körber rejects Mousavian’s endorsement of the fatwa to murder Salman Rushdie. Viebig refused to comment on whether Körber conducts business with Iran’s regime or in the Islamic Republic.
There are discussions among Iranian human rights activists from AAIRIA to mount a global boycott of Körber AG products if the Körber Foundation does not pull the plug on its relationship with Mousavian and Iran’s regime.
Mousavian did not respond to Post email or WhatsApp queries.
