Seyed Mohammad Marandi[a] (born 14 May 1966) is an Iranian-Americanacademic, intellectual and political analyst. He is closely linked to the Iranian government.[1][2] In 2024, he was described as a "mouthpiece" of the Iranian government by London-based news source Iran International[1][3] and as "one of the staunchest defenders of the Islamic Republic in English-language media" by Iranwire.[4][5]
Seyed Mohammad Marandi was born on 14 May 1966 in Richmond, Virginia. He is the son of Alireza Marandi, who would later become Iran's Health Minister and doctor of the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.[1] Marandi spent the first 13 years of his life in the United States. Following the 1979 Iranian revolution, his family moved to Iran. He volunteered to fight in the Iran–Iraq War during which he said he survived two Iraqi chemical weapons attacks.[6]
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?.[18][19]
Marandi has been noted for not being overly concerned about UN resolutions against Iran. According to a tweet by the Twitter account of reformist daily Shargh posted on 28 December 2021, Marandi stated:
What will happen if the UN resolutions against Iran are revived? We attach no value to the other side's ultimatums, because nothing is going to happen to us even if they pull out of the JCPOA and activate the trigger mechanism.[21][22]
On 1 October 2024, Marandi said on BBC's Today programme, that the Israeli government was a "genocidal regime" that was committing a "holocaust in Gaza", "believes in ethno-supremacism".[23] The Jewish Leadership Council and Simon Schama criticized the comments as antisemitic, while CAMERA described Marandi's comments as "racist rant and redundant claims of 'genocide'".[23] The BBC noted that its presenter did challenge Marandi during the interview, but acknowledged that it should have challenged Marandi's language further throughout the interview.[23]
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 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.
