Seyed Mohammad Marandi (born 14 May 1966) is an Iranian-American academic, intellectual and political analyst. He is closely linked to the Iranian government. In 2024, he was described as a "mouthpiece" of the Iranian government by London-based news source Iran International and as "one of the staunchest defenders of the Islamic Republic in English-language media" by Iranwire.
He was born in Richmond, Virginia, United States to Alireza Marandi, later the doctor of the second supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei. Mohammad Marandi moved to Iran at the age of 13 when he volunteered to fight in the IranâÂÂIraq War against President Saddam Hussein's regime. Marandi later studied at Birmingham University, England. He currently serves as a professor at the University of Tehran.
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. Mohammad Marandi spent the first 13 years of his life in the United States. Following his move to Iran, he volunteered to fight in the IranâÂÂIraq War and survived two Iraqi chemical weapons attacks.
Marandi is a graduate of the University of Tehran and Birmingham University (UK), where his PhD thesis was entitled "Lord Byron, his critics and Orientalism", described as a "response to Edward Said's Orientalism".
Marandi was the head of the North American Studies program at the University of Tehran; he is currently a professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the university.
Marandi has appeared as a political and social commentator on international news networks such as Channel 4, Sky News, PBS, ABC, CGTN, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, 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. Marandi has close links to the Iranian government. Iran International describes him as a "mouthpiece" of the Iranian government.
Following the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, Marandi wrote Marandi's statement referred to the United States Department of Justice's allegation that Iran had planned to assassinate US national security advisor John Bolton in 2020.
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 that
On 1 October 2024, Marandi said on BBC's Today programme, that the Israeli government was a âÂÂgenocidal regimeâ that was committing a "holocaust in Gaza", "believes in ethno-supremacismâ and "believes that they are a chosen people". 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 âÂÂgenocideâÂÂ". 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.