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|work=UN Chronicle}}</ref> On 24 December 2002, he issued a statement on behalf of the organisation in opposition to the risk of an [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]].<ref name="payvand_GIP">{{cite news | first=Kaveh L. | last=Afrasiabi | pages= | language =| title=Global Interfaith Peace Calls For Peace Brigade To Iraq | date=2002-12-24 | publisher=Payvand.com | url=http://www.payvand.com/news/02/dec/1117.html |accessdate=2009-06-03 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5hGNx0ncB |archivedate=2009-06-03}}</ref>
|work=UN Chronicle}}</ref> On 24 December 2002, he issued a statement on behalf of the organisation in opposition to the risk of an [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]].<ref name="payvand_GIP">{{cite news | first=Kaveh L. | last=Afrasiabi | pages= | language =| title=Global Interfaith Peace Calls For Peace Brigade To Iraq | date=2002-12-24 | publisher=Payvand.com | url=http://www.payvand.com/news/02/dec/1117.html |accessdate=2009-06-03 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5hGNx0ncB |archivedate=2009-06-03}}</ref>

==Legal Trouble==
Over the course of his career, Afrasiabi has repeatedly been entangled in legal controversies. In 1986, he was pulled over while driving an unregistered vehicle. Afrasiabi claims that he was merely test-driving the car, and that he paid the fines. (According to Afrasiabi, this incident is the source of a 1999 warrant for his arrest, on charges of driving an uninsured and unregistered vehicle and concealing the license plate, which he believes was issued in error because the fines were paid; the Cambridge Police state that this warrant originated from an incident in March of 1999.) In 1996, Afrasiabi was arrested by Harvard Police for extortion, although the charges were later dropped. Afrasiabi sued for violation of his civil rights, pursuing his claim all the way to the Supreme Court, and losing at every level. On June 27, 2010, Afrasiabi was arrested outside a Cambridge nightclub and restaurant, after declining to pay for his meal because he was disappointed with the food and service. Employees complained to Cambridge Police, who located the outstanding 1999 warrant, and arrested him with, Afrasiabi says, "a racist attitude." Afrasiabi claims that the next day, "The Cambridge Police showed vicious brutality toward me. They didn’t take me with the other inmates to the court house, they put me alone, they recklessly drove at full speed, then came to a full halt."
He alleges that this was deliberate violence, that he was seriously injured and might have been killed, and that it was motivated by overt racism. He has called for investigations by the Mayor's Office, the Police, and the US Attorney General, and granted numerous media interviews to air his claims, but has yet to file a formal complaint.<ref>[http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1609354150/Pundit-claims-police-brutality-in-Cambridge Iranian pundit claims 'police brutality' in Cambridge]</ref><ref>[http://www.hamsayeh.net/hamsayehnet_iran-international%20news1415.htm Veteran Iranian-American Professor Talks of US Police Brutality Against Him]</ref><ref>[http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=133000&sectionid=3510302 Abused scholar: US police conspiring against me]</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 13:45, 8 July 2010

Dr Kaveh Lamazhab Afrasiabi is a political scientist and author of Iranian origin who has lived for many years in the United States.

Teaching

Afrasiabi has taught political science at Tehran University, Boston University, and Bentley College. Afrasiabi has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Binghamton University, Center For Strategic Research, Tehran and Institute for Strategic Studies[clarification needed] in Paris.[1]

From 1996 to 2003, Afrasiabi was involved in a legal conflict with Roy Mottahedeh, former director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard 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 and the Supreme Court of the United States,[2][3][4] in which Afrasiabi acted as his own attorney. During associated controversies, Afrasiabi was supported by Mike Wallace of the US television program 60 Minutes,[5] author David Mamet,[6] linguist Noam Chomsky and political scientist Howard Zinn,[7] and former deputy prime minister of Iran, Farhang Mehr.[citation needed]

Books

Afrasiabi has written several books in relation to international relations, Iranian foreign policy and Iran – United States relations, including After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (1994),[8], Nir/North: A Cinematic Story about the Iran-Contra Affair (1996),[9] Iran's Nuclear Program: Debating Facts Versus Fiction (2006)[10] and Reading in Iran's Foreign Policy After September 11 (2008).[11] Afrasiabi has also written several book chapters on Islam, environment[clarification needed], and theology, published by Harvard University Press, Chicago University Press and Wadsworth.[citation needed]. Also, Afrasiabi has published a chapter on Islam, globalization, and ethics of non-violence in a compendium on Mahdism published by the Islamic Center of London.

Media

Afrasiabi has worked as a consultant to CBS's "60 Minutes" and has appeared on numerous television programs including CNN, MSNBC, Voice of America, and Al-Jazeera. Afrasiabi is a regular contributor to the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Global Dialogue, and Asia Times. Afrasiabi has written hundreds of articles in these and other newspapers and in scholarly journals including Harvard Theological Review, Harvard International Review, UN Chronicle, Brown's Journal of World Affairs, Middle East Journal, Journal of International Affairs, Telos, and Mediterannean Affairs. A supporter of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad[12], he has spoken out in support of the fairness of the 2009 presidential election results on CNN[13] and elsewhere[14] and has been critical of protests over the results.[15] He is also a supporter[16] of Iran's nuclear power program that was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program. Afrasiabi has called for education on the holocaust in the Muslim Middle East as a "moral imperative."

Peace/media activism

Afrasiabi is a former consultant to the United Nations "Dialogue Among Civilizations", for which he interviewed the former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami.[17] He occasionally contributes to the UN Chronicle on peace and human rights related topics.[18][19] Afrasiabi is frequently referred to as the director of an non-governmental organisation called Global Interfaith Peace.[18] On 24 December 2002, he issued a statement on behalf of the organisation in opposition to the risk of an invasion of Iraq.[20]

Legal Trouble

Over the course of his career, Afrasiabi has repeatedly been entangled in legal controversies. In 1986, he was pulled over while driving an unregistered vehicle. Afrasiabi claims that he was merely test-driving the car, and that he paid the fines. (According to Afrasiabi, this incident is the source of a 1999 warrant for his arrest, on charges of driving an uninsured and unregistered vehicle and concealing the license plate, which he believes was issued in error because the fines were paid; the Cambridge Police state that this warrant originated from an incident in March of 1999.) In 1996, Afrasiabi was arrested by Harvard Police for extortion, although the charges were later dropped. Afrasiabi sued for violation of his civil rights, pursuing his claim all the way to the Supreme Court, and losing at every level. On June 27, 2010, Afrasiabi was arrested outside a Cambridge nightclub and restaurant, after declining to pay for his meal because he was disappointed with the food and service. Employees complained to Cambridge Police, who located the outstanding 1999 warrant, and arrested him with, Afrasiabi says, "a racist attitude." Afrasiabi claims that the next day, "The Cambridge Police showed vicious brutality toward me. They didn’t take me with the other inmates to the court house, they put me alone, they recklessly drove at full speed, then came to a full halt." He alleges that this was deliberate violence, that he was seriously injured and might have been killed, and that it was motivated by overt racism. He has called for investigations by the Mayor's Office, the Police, and the US Attorney General, and granted numerous media interviews to air his claims, but has yet to file a formal complaint.[21][22][23]

References

  1. ^ "Dr. Afrasiabi is currently at the Paris Institute for Strategic Studies and serves on the Board of Directors of CASMII (Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran.)"""Forum on Iran : The Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University"".
  2. ^ Upton, Geoffrey C. (1996-02-08). "Former Post-Doc Will Stand Trial; Afrasiabi Denies Extortion Charge, Cites 'Mind-Blowing Conspiracy'". Harvard University. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  3. ^ Afrasiabi, Kaveh L. (2005-02-17). "A letter to America". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2999-12-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ "KAVEH L. AFRASIABI, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. HARVARD UNIVERSITY; HARVARD UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPARTMENT; RICHARD W. MEDEROS; FRANCIS RILEY; LAUREEN DONAHUE; CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES; ROY P. MOTTAHEDEH; REZA ALAVI and SHOBHANA RANA, Defendants, Appellees". United States Court of Appeals. 2002-07-01. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-04. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ ""Between Mike Wallace and Me"".
  6. ^ ""The David Mamet Society"".
  7. ^ ""Reading Kafka at Harvard"".
  8. ^ Afrasiabi, Kaveh L. (1994). After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy. Boulder, Colorado, United States: Westview Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0813321158. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Afrasiabi, Kaveh L. (1996 (2nd edition)). Nir/North: A Cinematic Story about the Iran-Contra Affair. NEPCO Publications. p. 150. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Afrasiabi, Kaveh L. (2006-03-08). Iran's Nuclear Program: Debating Facts Versus Fiction. BookSurge Publishing. p. 152. ISBN 978-1419630392. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ Afrasiabi, Kaveh L. (2008-10-23). Reading in Iran's Foreign Policy After September 11. BookSurge Publishing. p. 304. ISBN 978-1419656682. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ Ahmadinejad Supporter Speaks, Kaveh Afrasiabi Interviewed by Don Lemon. 17.06.09
  13. ^ Tehran tense as Iran's supreme leader endorses vote outcome June 15, 2009
  14. ^ http://www.casttv.com/search/Kaveh%20Afrasiabi/1
  15. ^ Iran: Mousavi States His Case by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
  16. ^ Afrasiabi, Kaveh L., Iran's Nuclear Program: Debating Facts Versus Fiction, BookSurge Publishing, 2006
  17. ^ Khatami, Mohammad (2006-09-11). "Mohammad Khatami on the Dialogue Among Civilizations". United Nations. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-03. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ a b Guéhenno, Jean-Marie (2007). "'We are more advanced in Peacekeeping than in Peacebuilding efforts'". UN Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  19. ^ "« Je continuerai d'être une avocate engagée dans la défense des droits de l'homme »" (in French). United Nations. 2004. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  20. ^ Afrasiabi, Kaveh L. (2002-12-24). "Global Interfaith Peace Calls For Peace Brigade To Iraq". Payvand.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  21. ^ Iranian pundit claims 'police brutality' in Cambridge
  22. ^ Veteran Iranian-American Professor Talks of US Police Brutality Against Him
  23. ^ Abused scholar: US police conspiring against me
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