A University of Chicago professor whose brother was convicted of helping the Iranian regime spy on dissidents in the United States is cheering on Iran’s missile attacks against Israel.
Alireza Doostdar, an associate professor of Islamic Studies and a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, wrote in a Tuesday X post, “At this point the best and only hope for peace is the power and durability of Iranian missiles.” His statement was in response to a video alleging that an “Iranian hypersonic missile attack” had destroyed an Israeli missile defense system in Tel Aviv.
On the University of Chicago campus, Doostdar is an active member of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine chapter and has supported unauthorized anti-Israel encampments. He was arrested during a “sit-in” protest in November 2023.
Doostdar’s brother Ahmadreza, however, has a more extensive record of run-ins with law enforcement. A federal judge sentenced him to 38 months in prison in 2020 for spying on Iranian dissidents in California and Chicago and for monitoring a number of Jewish centers, including a Hillel Center and a Rohr Chabad Center. Doostdar’s brother is also a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen.
Reached for comment, Doostdar told the Washington Free Beacon, “Sorry I refuse to speak to fascists. You can put that as my response.”
Doostdar’s defense of Iranian attacks comes as anti-Israel student groups on U.S. college campuses rally around the regime.
Last Friday, as Israel launched its military campaign against Iran and its nuclear program, Columbia University Apartheid Divest—the student group that drove violent campus protests last spring—posted on X that it “affirm[s] Iran’s right to self-defense, sovereignty, and self-determination.” Three days later, the group wrote, “From our position in the belly of the beast, this moment demands unconditional support from the brave people of Iran as they fight against the evils of Western imperialism. Anything less is insufficient.”
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Chicago, a “unified front of Chicagoland SJPs” that includes the University of Chicago, also joined a “Hands off Iran” protest the day after Israel launched its campaign. The coalition plans to participate in a similar demonstration on Saturday.
Doostdar’s public support for the Iranian regime dates back to last May, when he dismissed accusations that foreign entities, including Iran’s government, were fueling protests on U.S. college campuses, the Free Beacon reported. He also claimed to have “never heard anti-Semitic chants” at the University of Chicago, where Jewish students have been targeted with graffiti reading, “Zionist freakshow off our campus” and “Zionist IDF terrorists off our campus.”
“This is a ridiculous claim,” Doostdar said after a BBC News host asked the professor if he had seen “any signs of foreign interference or extremism” in the anti-Semitic protest movement.
“This is an allegation made by authoritarian states, when they frequently label protests as foreign conspirators, like what we see in Iran,” Doostdar added. “What I see here at our university, the protests are very inclusive and diverse.”
Just two months later, former director of national intelligence Avril Haines revealed that “Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza,” by encouraging and paying protesters in the United States.
The University of Chicago did not respond to a request for comment.
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