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Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a former graduate of Birmingham University and an associate professor of English Literature at University of Tehran, is the founder and director of the Institute for North American and European Studies (INAES)^[1]. Marandi, born in 1966 in Richmond, Virginia, is the influential son of the former Iranian Health Care Minister and the present MP, Alireza Marandi, and a fervid supporter of the militant policies of the Islamic Republic^[2]. He is also a frequent interlocutor at such widely known international news networks as CNN^[3], BBC^[4], Al Jazeera^[5], and Press TV^[6], where he has made significant attempts at justifying the policies of the Islamic Republic with regard to its nuclear program^[7]^[8], and, more recently, the suppression of the Iranian domestic protests^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12].

In an interview with Al Jazeera, he has also tried to cast aspersions on the late Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri (1922-2009), the dissident Iranian cleric and an advocate of human rights and separation of religion from state who was placed under house arrest virtually for life by the Islamic Republic, and to deny his continuously inspiring role in bringing about the so-called Reform Movement in Iran since the late 1980s. According to Marandi: "After his [Montazeri's] inner circle was discovered to be linked to Mujahidin terrorists based in Iraq, he was isolated by the reformists.... He is not a major player and has always been very critical".^[13]

Marandi's main focus of concern, however, has been his pet project, INAES. This institute, starting as a subsidiary arm to the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures of Tehran University, in a few years' period has grown into a formidable independent center for reverse cultural engineering and producing the Islamic Republic's version of Occidentalism through the exploitation of the critical discourses on Orientalism by such prominent figures as Edward Said, Ziauddin Sardar, and Bill Ashcroft, for both domestic and international consumption.^[14]

In line with this, Marandi has entered arguments over what he calls the "Westernized" outlooks of the Iranian diaspora, especially as embodied in the bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003) by the exile Iranian writer, Azar Nafisi:

In this article, an attempt will be made to show that Reading Lolita in Tehran is a work of one who has 'Westernized' her outlook; Nafisi constantly confirms what orientalist representations have regularly claimed: the backwardness and inferiority of Muslims and Islam. This article will attempt to show that Nafisi has produced gross misrepresentations of Iranian society and Islam and that she uses quotes and references which are inaccurate, misleading, or even wholly invented.^[15]

In a most recent sycophantic piece of propaganda, under the title Ayatollah Khamenei and a Principled Foreign Policy^[16], wherein Marandi crowns Khamenei with the magniloquent titles of Ayatollah al-Udhma (Grand Ayatollah) and Imam, the former he is not, and the latter is used only to address Khomeini in the context of the Islamic Republic, he goes as far as to state: "I venture to say that in some respects his [Khamenei's] leadership has been even more impressive than that of the late Imam, as he did not have the advantage of being the founder of the Revolution." Also, laying meticulously and comprehensively before the readers the instances of the Islamic Republic's "judicious" foreign policy under the "just, pious, courageous, and wise" Imam Khamenei, Marandi somehow fails to mention anything about the Islamic Republic's foreign policy with regard to its closest ally in the region, namely the government of Syria^[17], and the bloodshed that has been going on in that country, with the flagrant complicity of the Islamic Republic^[18]^[19], for quite some time now.

In this very article, he mendaciously^[20]^[21]^[22] attributes the recent wave of liberation movements in the Middle East to the "culture of resistance advocated by Imam Khamenei":

In fact, many internal critics of Iran's foreign policy now believe that the country's posture of resistance has been vindicated. It is widely believed that this culture of resistance advocated by Imam Khamenei has contributed to the current uprisings and the changes that we are now witnessing. It is also believed that the same culture of resistance has made the Islamic Republic popular in the Arab world.

With regard to Marandi's blatant distortion of facts and his misleading manner in conveying the news of Iran to the outside world, the Columbia University professor and political critic, Hamid Dabashi, has derisively described him as a "native informer"^[23]. Also, Reza Parchizadeh, the Iranian writer, political activist, and a former student and colleague of Marandi's at University of Tehran, has called him a "spin doctor"^[24]; and in an open letter has accused him of being one of the key architects of the Second Cultural Revolution in Iran under the pretext of the Islamization of Universities.^[25]

Sources

Also See

Iranian Cultural Revolution

[1] The Institute for North American and European Studies

[2] Man with a Country

[3] CNN Interview

[4] BBC Interview

[5] Al-Jazeera Interview

[6] Press TV Interview

[7] US: From Sanctions to War against Iran?

[8] The Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States, and the Balance of Power in the Middle East

[9] Seyed Mohammad Marandi: Green Movement Defeated

[10] 'No violence' at Iran protests

[11] CrossTalk on Revolts: Iran's Turn?

[12] Globalization and Media Development: A Promise of or a Menace to Civil Society?

[13] Iranians mourn dissident cleric

[14] International Conference on Academic Imperialism, held at Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran, May 1-2, 2010

[15] Reading Azar Nafisi in Tehran

[16] Ayatollah Khamenei and a Principled Foreign Policy

[17] Iran has been isolated by the Arab spring

[18] Iran helping Syrian regime crack down on protesters, say diplomats

[19] Iranian advisors helping Assad to crush Syrian protests: Report

[20] Iran's supreme leader calls uprisings an 'Islamic awakening'

[21] Muslim Brotherhood rejects Khamenei calls for Iran-style Islamic state

[22] Iran has been isolated by the Arab spring

[23] Dabashi, Hamid (2010). Iran, the Green Movement, and the USA. Zed Books. ISBN 9781848138155. p 105.

[24] Globalization and Media Development: A Promise of or a Menace to Civil Society?

[25] Open Letter to Seyed Mohammad Marandi

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-'''Seyed Mohammad Marandi''', a former graduate of [[Birmingham University]] and an associate professor of [[English literature|English Literature]] at [[University of Tehran]], is the founder and director of the Institute for North American and European Studies (INAES).<ref>[http://inaes.ut.ac.ir/ltr/Default2.aspx The Institute for North American and European Studies]</ref> Marandi, born in 1966 in [[Richmond, Virginia]], is the influential son of the former Iranian Health Care Minister and the present MP, [[Alireza Marandi]], and a fervid supporter of the militant policies of the [[Islamic Republic of Iran|Islamic Republic]].<ref>[http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/506/man_with_a_country/index.php Man with a Country]</ref> He is also a frequent interlocutor at such widely known international news networks as [[CNN]],<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3SIQs4D5hY CNN Interview]</ref> [[BBC]],<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCmSNtL7xSU BBC Interview]</ref> [[Al Jazeera]],<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Kt94eesHw&feature=related Al-Jazeera Interview]</ref> and [[Press TV]],<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMRuD5n4jA Press TV Interview]</ref> where he has made significant attempts at justifying the policies of the Islamic Republic with regard to its [[Nuclear program of Iran|nuclear project]],<ref>[http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/iran200110.html US: From Sanctions to War against Iran?]</ref><ref>[http://www.raceforiran.com/the-islamic-republic-of-iran-the-united-states-and-the-balance-of-power-in-the-middle-east The Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States, and the Balance of Power in the Middle East]</ref> and, more recently, the suppression of the Iranian domestic protests.<ref>[http://www.insideiran.org/news/qa-seyed-mohammad-marandi-green-movement-defeated/ Seyed Mohammad Marandi: Green Movement Defeated]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8510000/8510053.stm 'No violence' at Iran protests]</ref>
+'''Seyed Mohammad Marandi''', a former graduate of [[Birmingham University]] and an associate professor of [[English literature|English Literature]] at [[University of Tehran]], is the founder and director of the Institute for North American and European Studies (INAES)<ref>[http://inaes.ut.ac.ir/ltr/Default2.aspx The Institute for North American and European Studies]</ref>. Marandi, born in 1966 in [[Richmond, Virginia]], is the influential son of the former Iranian Health Care Minister and the present MP, [[Alireza Marandi]], and a fervid supporter of the militant policies of the [[Islamic Republic of Iran|Islamic Republic]]<ref>[http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/506/man_with_a_country/index.php Man with a Country]</ref>. He is also a frequent interlocutor at such widely known international news networks as [[CNN]]<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3SIQs4D5hY CNN Interview]</ref>, [[BBC]]<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCmSNtL7xSU BBC Interview]</ref>, [[Al Jazeera]]<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Kt94eesHw&feature=related Al-Jazeera Interview]</ref>, and [[Press TV]]<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMRuD5n4jA Press TV Interview]</ref>, where he has made significant attempts at justifying the policies of the Islamic Republic with regard to its [[Nuclear program of Iran|nuclear program]]<ref>[http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/iran200110.html US: From Sanctions to War against Iran?]</ref><ref>[http://www.raceforiran.com/the-islamic-republic-of-iran-the-united-states-and-the-balance-of-power-in-the-middle-east The Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States, and the Balance of Power in the Middle East]</ref>, and, more recently, the suppression of the Iranian domestic protests<ref>[http://www.insideiran.org/news/qa-seyed-mohammad-marandi-green-movement-defeated/ Seyed Mohammad Marandi: Green Movement Defeated]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8510000/8510053.stm 'No violence' at Iran protests]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3UxkBrq548&NR=1&feature=fvwp CrossTalk on Revolts: Iran's Turn?]</ref><ref>[http://radiokoocheh.com/article/117124 Globalization and Media Development: A Promise of or a Menace to Civil Society?]</ref>.
-In an interview with Al Jazeera, he has also tried to cast aspersions on the late Grand Ayatollah [[Hussein-Ali Montazeri]] (1922–2009), the dissident Iranian cleric and an advocate of human rights and separation of religion from state who was placed under house arrest virtually for life by the Islamic Republic, and to deny his continuously inspiring role in bringing about the so-called [[Iranian reform movement|Reform Movement]] in Iran since the late 1980s. According to Marandi: "After his [Montazeri's] inner circle was discovered to be linked to [[People's Mujahedin of Iran|Mujahidin]] terrorists based in Iraq, he was isolated by the reformists.... He is not a major player and has always been very critical".<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/2009122143345186480.html Iranians mourn dissident cleric]</ref>
+In an interview with Al Jazeera, he has also tried to cast aspersions on the late Grand Ayatollah [[Hussein-Ali Montazeri]] (1922-2009), the dissident Iranian cleric and an advocate of human rights and separation of religion from state who was placed under house arrest virtually for life by the Islamic Republic, and to deny his continuously inspiring role in bringing about the so-called [[Iranian reform movement|Reform Movement]] in Iran since the late 1980s. According to Marandi: "After his [Montazeri's] inner circle was discovered to be linked to [[People's Mujahedin of Iran|Mujahidin]] terrorists based in Iraq, he was isolated by the reformists.... He is not a major player and has always been very critical".<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/2009122143345186480.html Iranians mourn dissident cleric]</ref>
-Marandi's main focus of concern, however, has been his pet project, INAES. This institute, starting as a subsidiary arm to the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures of Tehran University, in a few years' period has grown into a formidable independent center for reverse [[cultural engineering]] and producing the Islamic Republic's version of [[Occidentalism]] through the exploitation of the critical discourses on [[Orientalism]] by such prominent figures as [[Edward Said]], [[Ziauddin Sardar]], and Bill Ashcroft, for both domestic and international consumption.
+Marandi's main focus of concern, however, has been his pet project, INAES. This institute, starting as a subsidiary arm to the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures of Tehran University, in a few years' period has grown into a formidable independent center for reverse [[cultural engineering]] and producing the Islamic Republic's version of [[Occidentalism]] through the exploitation of the critical discourses on [[Orientalism]] by such prominent figures as [[Edward Said]], [[Ziauddin Sardar]], and Bill Ashcroft, for both domestic and international consumption.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=dMUF8leJ_mM International Conference on Academic Imperialism, held at Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran, May 1-2, 2010]</ref>
 In line with this, Marandi has entered arguments over what he calls the "[[Westernization|Westernized]]" outlooks of the [[Iranian diaspora]], especially as embodied in the bestseller ''[[Reading Lolita in Tehran]]'' (2003) by the exile Iranian writer, [[Azar Nafisi]]:
@@ Line 9: / Line 10: @@
 {{quotation| In this article, an attempt will be made to show that Reading Lolita in Tehran is a work of one who has 'Westernized' her outlook; Nafisi constantly confirms what orientalist representations have regularly claimed: the backwardness and inferiority of Muslims and Islam. This article will attempt to show that Nafisi has produced gross misrepresentations of Iranian society and Islam and that she uses quotes and references which are inaccurate, misleading, or even wholly invented.<ref>[http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/cas/2008/00000006/00000002/art00006 Reading Azar Nafisi in Tehran]</ref>}}
-In a most recent sycophantic piece of propaganda, under the title ''Ayatollah Khamenei and a Principled Foreign Policy'',<ref>[http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=8262 Ayatollah Khamenei and a Principled Foreign Policy]</ref> wherein Marandi crowns [[Khamenei]] with the magniloquent titles of ''Ayatollah al-Udhma'' (Grand Ayatollah) and ''Imam'', the latter used only to address [[Khomeini]] in the context of the Islamic Republic, he goes as far as to state: "I venture to say that in some respects his [Khamenei's] leadership has been even more impressive than that of the late Imam, as he did not have the advantage of being the founder of the Revolution." Also, laying meticulously and comprehensively before the readers the instances of the Islamic Republic's "judicious" foreign policy under the "just, pious, courageous, and wise" Imam Khamenei, Marandi somehow fails to mention anything about the Islamic Republic's foreign policy with regard to its closest ally in the region, namely the government of [[Syria]],<ref>[http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/views/152634-iran-has-been-isolated-by-the-arab-spring.html Iran has been isolated by the Arab spring]</ref> and the bloodshed that has been going on in that country, with the flagrant complicity of the Islamic Republic,<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/08/iran-helping-syrian-regime-protesters Iran helping Syrian regime crack down on protesters, say diplomats]</ref><ref>[http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/28/150831.html Iranian advisors helping Assad to crush Syrian protests: Report]</ref> for quite some time now.
+In a most recent sycophantic piece of propaganda, under the title ''Ayatollah Khamenei and a Principled Foreign Policy''<ref>[http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=8262 Ayatollah Khamenei and a Principled Foreign Policy]</ref>, wherein Marandi crowns [[Khamenei]] with the magniloquent titles of ''Ayatollah al-Udhma'' (Grand Ayatollah) and ''Imam'', the former he is not, and the latter is used only to address [[Khomeini]] in the context of the Islamic Republic, he goes as far as to state: "I venture to say that in some respects his [Khamenei's] leadership has been even more impressive than that of the late Imam, as he did not have the advantage of being the founder of the Revolution." Also, laying meticulously and comprehensively before the readers the instances of the Islamic Republic's "judicious" foreign policy under the "just, pious, courageous, and wise" Imam Khamenei, Marandi somehow fails to mention anything about the Islamic Republic's foreign policy with regard to its closest ally in the region, namely the government of [[Syria]]<ref>[http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/views/152634-iran-has-been-isolated-by-the-arab-spring.html Iran has been isolated by the Arab spring]</ref>, and the bloodshed that has been going on in that country, with the flagrant complicity of the Islamic Republic<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/08/iran-helping-syrian-regime-protesters Iran helping Syrian regime crack down on protesters, say diplomats]</ref><ref>[http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/28/150831.html Iranian advisors helping Assad to crush Syrian protests: Report]</ref>, for quite some time now.
 In this very article, he mendaciously<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/04/world/la-fg-khamenei-iran-egypt-20110205 Iran's supreme leader calls uprisings an 'Islamic awakening']</ref><ref>[http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2011/feb/04/2724 Muslim Brotherhood rejects Khamenei calls for Iran-style Islamic state]</ref><ref>[http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/views/152634-iran-has-been-isolated-by-the-arab-spring.html Iran has been isolated by the Arab spring]</ref> attributes the recent wave of liberation movements in the Middle East to the "culture of resistance advocated by Imam Khamenei":
@@ Line 15: / Line 16: @@
 {{quotation|In fact, many internal critics of Iran's foreign policy now believe that the country's posture of resistance has been vindicated. It is widely believed that this culture of resistance advocated by Imam Khamenei has contributed to the current uprisings and the changes that we are now witnessing. It is also believed that the same culture of resistance has made the Islamic Republic popular in the Arab world.}}
-With regard to Marandi's blatant distortion of facts and his misleading manner in conveying the news of Iran to the outside world, the [[Columbia University]] professor and political critic, [[Hamid Dabashi]], has derisively described him as a "native informer".<ref>{{cite book |last =Dabashi|first=Hamid|year= 2010| title=Iran, the Green Movement, and the USA|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=9781848138155}} p 105.</ref> Also, [[Reza Parchizadeh]], the Iranian writer, political activist, and a former student and colleague of Marandi's at University of Tehran, has called him a "spin doctor";<ref>[http://radiokoocheh.com/article/117124 Globalization and Media Development: A Promise of or a Menace to Civil Society?]</ref> and in an open letter has accused him of being one of the key architects of the [[Second Cultural Revolution in Iran]] under the pretext of the [[Islamization]] of Universities.<ref>[http://balatarin.com/permlink/2011/3/4/2397817 Open Letter to Seyed Mohammad Marandi]</ref>
+With regard to Marandi's blatant distortion of facts and his misleading manner in conveying the news of Iran to the outside world, the [[Columbia University]] professor and political critic, [[Hamid Dabashi]], has derisively described him as a "native informer"<ref>{{cite book |last =Dabashi|first=Hamid|year= 2010| title=Iran, the Green Movement, and the USA|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=9781848138155}} p 105.</ref>. Also, [[Reza Parchizadeh]], the Iranian writer, political activist, and a former student and colleague of Marandi's at University of Tehran, has called him a "spin doctor"<ref>[http://radiokoocheh.com/article/117124 Globalization and Media Development: A Promise of or a Menace to Civil Society?]</ref>; and in an open letter has accused him of being one of the key architects of the [[Second Cultural Revolution in Iran]] under the pretext of the [[Islamization]] of Universities.<ref>[http://balatarin.com/permlink/2011/3/4/2397817 Open Letter to Seyed Mohammad Marandi]</ref>
 == Sources ==
 <references />
+== Also See ==
-== See also ==
 *[[Iranian Cultural Revolution]]
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Marandi, Seyed Mohammad}}
 [[Category:Iranian politicians]]
 [[Category:University of Tehran faculty]]
 [[Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard]]
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Marandi, Seyed Mohammad}}