Mohammad Marandi (born 14 May 1966) is an American and Iranian academic and political analyst. He is the son of

Alireza Marandi Alireza Marandi (; born 1939) is an Iranian politician, physician, and professor of Pediatrics and Neonatology at the Shahid Beheshti University. He was also an associate professor at Wright State University before returning to Iran during the I ...

, a physician who was a Minister of Health in Iran's government while also a Member of Parliament.

Early life and education

Mohammad Marandi was born on 14 May 1966 in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, and spent the first 13 years of his life in the United States. Following his move to Iran, he volunteered to fight in the Iran-Iraq war and survived two

chemical weapons attacks A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combined ...

. Marandi is a graduate of the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

and

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

(UK), where his PhD thesis was entitled "

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, his critics and Orientalism", described as a "response to

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...

's ''

Orientalism In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...

''".

Career

Marandi was the head of the North American Studies program at the

; he is currently a professor of

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

and

at the university. Marandi has appeared as a political and social commentator on international news networks such as

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

CGTN China Global Television Network (CGTN) is one of three branches of state-run China Media Group and the international division of China Central Television (CCTV). Headquartered in Beijing, CGTN broadcasts news in multiple languages. CGTN is un ...

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

, and RT. He has also contributed opinion pieces to publications such as Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, and Tehran Times. He is an adviser to the Iranian nuclear negotiations team in Vienna. Following the 2022

stabbing of Salman Rushdie On August 12, 2022, Indian-born British-American novelist Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times by 24-year-old Hadi Matar as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, United States. Matar w ...

, Marandi wrote "I won't be shedding tears for a writer who spouts endless hatred & contempt for Muslims & Islam. But is it a coincidence that just when we are on the verge of revitalising the nuclear agreement, America makes claims about an attempted assassination of Bolton and then this happens?”. Marandi's statement referred to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

's allegation that Iran had planned to assassinate US national security advisor

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...

in 2020.

Written works

*"Oppressors and Oppressed Reconsidered: A Shi‘itologic Perspective on the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah’s Outlook on International Relations" (with Raffaele Mauriello) in ''Islam and International Relations: Contributions to Theory and Practice'', Springer, 2015, pp. 50–71. *"The

Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure as Supreme Leader ...

Doctrine: Iran’s leader on diplomacy, foreign policy and international relations" (with Raffaele Mauriello) in ''Islam in International Relations: Politics and Paradigms'', Routledge, 2018, pp. 18–38.

Notes

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marandi, Mohammad 1966 births Living people American people of Iranian descent Academic staff of the University of Tehran Academic staff of the Faculty of World Studies University of Tehran alumni Alumni of the University of Birmingham People from Richmond, Virginia American political commentators Iranian military personnel of the Iran–Iraq War