Oberlin College Places Mohammad Jafar Mahallati on 'Indefinite Leave' Following Sexual Abuse Allegations and Anti-Semitic Remarks

Oberlin College in Ohio, USA, has placed Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, a former ambassador of the Islamic Republic to the United Nations who was teaching at the institution, on 'indefinite leave.' The New York Post reported that this former official of the Islamic Republic was suspended following the revelation of sexual abuse allegations against him, as well as his statements in support of Hamas and anti-Semitic remarks. This Palestinian militant group is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and several other countries. Voice of America inquired about the reason for Mahallati's suspension from Oberlin College, but the college had not provided a response by the time of this report. Previously, a number of Iranian human rights activists had published an open letter to the president of Oberlin College, calling for an independent investigation into Mahallati's background. They pointed out that he had made significant efforts to deny the occurrence of mass executions of political prisoners in the summer of 1988. Meanwhile, a group of Iranians residing in the United States, under a campaign titled 'Justice for Victims,' gathered outside Oberlin College, demanding Mahallati's dismissal from the university. Ladan Bazargan, a political activist whose brother Bijan Bazargan was executed in the 1980s and who herself was imprisoned at the age of 16, reacted to this issue on social media, stating: 'Our three-year efforts have borne fruit.' She added: 'After five demonstrations in front of Oberlin College, protests outside the businesses of Oberlin board members in Berlin, London, New York, Atlanta, Washington D.C., and Orange County, as well as numerous articles, several letters, interviews, speeches, and support from Oberlin alumni, students, and faculty, human rights organizations, and think tanks, the Justice for Mahallati Victims campaign succeeded in removing him from his position.' Amnesty International had previously reported in January 2023 that Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, as the permanent representative of the Islamic Republic at the UN in New York in 1988, played an active role in attempting to undermine credible reports by the then UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran and Amnesty International. According to this report, he rejected reports of mass executions in a meeting with the UN rapporteur and described the UN resolution expressing concern over the executions in the summer of 1988 as 'unjust.' Mahallati had previously denied these allegations in an interview with Masih Alinejad on the 'Tablet' program of Voice of America. When asked whether he demanded punishment for Ebrahim Raisi and Ali Khamenei for the downing of the Ukrainian plane and crimes against humanity, he stated that 'the cycle of revenge' would lead nowhere and added that 'the issue is not the trial of one or two people but changing the war-oriented perspective.' The New York Post reported that Mahallati's suspension occurred after court documents from the 1990s were released, indicating that while he was an assistant professor at Columbia University, he was accused of promising good grades to a graduate student who was 11 years younger than him in exchange for sexual relations. It is unclear when Oberlin College became aware of the sexual abuse allegations against Mahallati, but the university's public relations officer told the New York Post that they take sexual harassment allegations 'very seriously' and would never hire someone if they knew of such a background. Ladan Bazargan reacted to the claim that sexual abuse was the reason for Mahallati's suspension, stating on her social media account that the complaint against Mahallati by Vida Shamas, a Columbia University student, was filed in New York in 1997 and was closed after a year and a half, with both parties reaching an out-of-court settlement. The New York Post also reported that Mahallati is under federal investigation this fall, as the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education announced it was launching a broader investigation into 'anti-Semitism' at Oberlin College. This investigation is examining a complaint from a former student who is now the director of a nonprofit organization to end anti-Semitism, alleging that Mahallati teaches students 'support for Hamas and terrorism.' This former student submitted complaints about anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incidents that occurred between 2014 and 2017 to the U.S. Department of Education, which also noted that Mahallati told his students in 2016 that Israel is 'a colonial country.' Oberlin expressed its disgust at anti-Semitism this November, quoting Mahallati as stating that he believes in the right of all people to live in peace and supports a two-state solution.