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The daughter of one of the Iranian regime\u2019s most powerful officials has left the United States and has been barred from reentering after being fired from the medical faculty at Atlanta, Georgia\u2019s Emory University earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Dr. Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, whose father, Ali Larijani, served as secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council before being killed in a U.S. airstrike, was removed from her post as an assistant professor at the university in January following a public backlash triggered by the brutal regime\u2019s mass murder of protestors, the California Post<\/em> reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cShe and her husband, Seyed Kalantar Motamedi, are no longer in the country and have been barred from reentry. Officials said both were removed as part of a hardline crackdown on individuals linked to anti-American regimes,\u201d the Post<\/em> reported<\/a> Saturday.<\/p>\n Her father was considered a close confident of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike with many other top members of the regime as they met the morning of February 28.<\/p>\n Larijani then was briefly seen as the de facto leader of Iran as Operation Epic Fury unfolded, the New York Times<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n His tenure did not last long. Another Israeli airstrike on March 17 took him out, also killing Dr. Larijani\u2019s brother, Morteza.<\/p>\n The federal government revoked Dr. Larijani and her husband\u2019s legal status earlier this month as part of a broad crackdown on foreign nationals with ties to Iranian leaders and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been named a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n The backlash in January included a petition signed by more than 100,000 people and a demonstration outside an Emory University medical center, with protestors waving signs that declared statements such as, \u201cDid you know Iran terror chief\u2019s daughter is your co-worker?\u201d<\/p>\n The Winship Cancer Institute is highlighted as one of the university\u2019s gems, known<\/a> for its research into the disease and its development of cutting-edge cancer treatments for its patients.<\/p>\n Momentum for the physician\u2019s ouster was amplified when Rep. Earl \u201cBuddy\u201d Carter (R-GA) wrote to Emory and the Georgia Medical Board demanding that Ardeshir-Larijani be fired and stripped of her medical license.<\/p>\n The Georgia congressman argued the country\u2019s institutions should not serve as a \u201csafe harbor\u201d for individuals tied to hostile regimes, according to the Post<\/em>, and that the physician was a \u201cnational security risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Larijani reportedly received legal status with a green card in 2021 under President Joe Biden\u2019s administration, the Post r<\/em>eported.<\/p>\n In January, well before the military operation on Iran, the U.S. Treasury Department levied<\/a> sanctions against her father for being \u201cone of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people.\u201d<\/p>\n The department sanctioned 18 other officials it charged were laundering petroleum money as part of \u201cshadow banking\u201d networks instead of using it for \u201cthe benefit of the Iranian people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile his daughter was living the American dream, treating patients and researching developmental therapeutics from Atlanta, Larijani was allegedly terrorizing the people of Tehran and labeling the US the \u2018Great Satan,\u2019\u201d the Post<\/em> wrote when it broke the story about the doctor\u2019s ouster in January.<\/p>\n Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller\u00a0<\/em>House of Secrets\u00a0<\/em><\/a>and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See\u00a0<\/em>lowellcauffiel.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for more.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n