Kaveh Lotfollah Afrasiabi (, born 1958) is an Iranian-American political scientist and author, living in Boston, Massachusetts.
In January 2021, Afrasiabi was arrested by the FBI on charges of working as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government. On September 18, 2023, Afrasiabi received a presidential pardon by President Biden and the pending charges against him were dropped at the pre-trial stage.
Career
Afrasiabi is a prominent Iranian-American political scientist and author of more than thirty books—on Iran, Islam, ecology, Middle East, UN reform, as well as poetry and fiction—and numerous articles in international newspapers and journals. Afrasiabi gained a PhD in Political Science from Boston University in 1998, with a thesis titled "State and Populism in Iran" under the supervision of famed historian Howard Zinn. Afrasiabi has also studied theology at Andover-Newton Theological School and his theological writings have been praised by Bishop John Chane as a "must read" in his introduction to Afrasiabi's book, titled Mahdism, Shiism, and Communicative Eco-Theology (2015). Afrasiabi's seminal article on "Communicative theory and theology" initially published in Harvard Theological Review has been reprinted by Cambridge University Press. Afrasiabi has denied the US allegations against him and published a book in response, titled Agent of Peace: Response to US Complaint (March 2021). Denouncing the charges as politically-motivated by the outgoing Trump administration in order to complicate its successor administration's Iran policy, Afrasiabi has urged the readers in this book to read his compendium of articles and to ascertain for themselves that the US allegation of propaganda is baseless and that his international affairs consulting role for Iran was completely legitimate and transparent under the UN regulations.
Afrasiabi has taught political science at the University of Tehran, Boston University, and Bentley University. Afrasiabi has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University (1989-1990), University of California, Berkeley (2000-2001), Binghamton University (2001-2002) and the Center for Strategic Research, Tehran. During 2004-2005, Afrasiabi was involved as an advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiation team.
Afrasiabi is a former consultant to the United Nations "Dialogue Among Civilizations", for which he interviewed the former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami. Afrasiabi is a member of the advisory board of the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran. Afrasiabi has authored numerous articles in scholarly journals and newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, UN Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Council on Foreign Relations, London's Guardian, Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel, Der TAZ, Harvard Theological Review, Harvard International Review, Brown's Journal of World Affairs, Columbia Journal of International Affairs, Global Dialogue, Mediterranean Affairs, Middle East Journal, Middle East Eye, Asia Times, Modern Diplomacy, and Boston Globe.
Afrasiabi is a permanent resident of the U.S., living in Boston, Massachusetts.