A high-ranking official charged with combating antisemitism in Hamburg has condemned an influential think tank with close ties to the German Foreign Ministry for hosting Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former diplomat for the Holocaust-denying regime, at an event in the country last year.
Mousavian has a proven track record of “playing down the Holocaust,” said Stefan Hensel, the commissioner for the city-state of Hamburg in Germany assigned to combat antisemitism. Hensel told Focus on Western Islamism (FWI) that he was shocked that a foundation in Hamburg “would invite a propagandist for the Iranian regime” who has compared the suffering endured by Palestinians in Gaza to how Jews were treated by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
“For years, I have been committed to making Iranian machinations and Iran’s threat of annihilation against Israel and Jews, but also against the Iranian opposition, public,” he said. “We all know that Iran is the greatest threat to peace in the Middle East, but also to the safety of Jews worldwide.”
The Think Tank Hosting Mousavian
Hensel directed his ire at the Hamburg-based think tank, the Körber Foundation, for hosting Mousavian at a talk that took place in May 2024. In June, German-Iranian dissidents protested in front of Körber condemning its decision to host Mousavian.
Körber was founded by the former Nazi Kurt Adolf Körber (1909-1992), who worked as technical director at the armament company Universelle-Werke, which profited from the use of forced labor from female concentration camp victims during the Holocaust.
Körber functions as an arm of Germany’s foreign ministry and serves as an idea factory for Berlin’s largely pro-Iranian regime policies. In May 2024, Körber organized a presentation by Mousavian, attended by Brigadier General Christian Freuding and 39 high-ranking German Foreign Ministry and army officials.
German-Iranian dissident Mina Ahadi, who spearheaded a famous international campaign against the stoning to death of Iranians and who led the June 2024 protest against Mousavian’s presence at Körber, praised Hensel’s condemnation of the Körber Foundation (which declined to answer numerous FWI email press queries and telephone calls).
[T]he Körber Foundation—which claims to uphold democratic principles and human rights—ignores the crimes of the terrorist regime in Iran, in the region, and against Israel.
“Mr. Hensel’s statement is important and good,” Ahadi said. “Unfortunately, we have not seen German politicians do anything or say anything against the influence of the Islamic regime and also the cooperation of the Körber Foundation with the Islamic regime and also Mousavian.”
Dr. Kazem Moussavi, a spokesman for the Green Party of Iran in exile in Germany, cited the disconnect between the German federal government’s recent closure of the Iranian regime-controlled Islamic Center of Hamburgand Körber’s decision to host Mousavian.
“Through its cooperation and friendship with Mousavian, the Körber Foundation—which claims to uphold democratic principles and human rights—ignores the crimes of the terrorist regime in Iran, in the region, and against Israel,” said Moussavi, adding that “Körber therefore bears, directly or indirectly, a moral complicity. While the federal government has closed the Islamic Center of Hamburg, the invitation of Mousavian by the Körber actually means support for its reopening. This would continue the Islamism and antisemitism of the mullahs in Germany.”
Gazelle Sharmahd, whose father, Jamshid—a German citizen and American resident was executed by Iran’s regime—told FWI that, “Körber has been criticized repeatedly for staging the regime-affiliated Mousavian and should have severed its relationship with him a long time ago. He poses as a peace promoter while simultaneously attending the funeral of IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] commander Soleimani, who killed Americans. Now he is continuing to promote the goals of the regime as a hired scholar at Princeton University.”
She declared that Körber and Princeton, where Mousavian serves as a researcher, “are acting against national security.”
How Will Princeton Respond?
Lawdan Bazargan, the founder and leader of the US-based Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), said Princeton University should take notice of events in Germany.
“Princeton University’s continued support of Seyed Hossein Mousavian is deeply troubling,” she said. “His involvement in transnational repression, his presence at Qasem Soleimani’s funeral, and his defense of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie further demonstrate his allegiance to a regime that perpetuates hatred and violence.”
According to the US government, the late Iranian regime global terrorist Soleimani was responsible for the murders of over 600 American military personnel in the Middle East. FWI reached out to Princeton University Trustee Kathy Roth-Douquet, who is also chief executive officer of the pro-US veteran organization Blue Star Families. Blue Star Families did not immediately answer an FWI press query.
Bazargan added, “By allowing Mousavian to hold an academic position, Princeton lends credibility to his narrative, giving him a platform to spread misinformation and anti-U.S. sentiment, and to whitewash the Islamic Republic’s colonial aspirations and support for terrorist proxies. This is not just a matter of academic freedom; it is a matter of national security and moral responsibility. Institutions like Princeton must be held accountable for empowering voices that endanger lives and embolden regimes that seek to destabilize the global community.”
Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber declined to respond to FWI queries.
Mousavian’s Career
Opponents of the Islamic regime claim Mousavian oversaw the assassinations of at least 24 Iranian dissidents in Europe during the 1990s. Abolghasem Mesbahi, a former high-level Iranian intelligence official, told a Berlin court during the Mykonos trial in 1997: “Mousavian participated in most of the [Iranian regime’s] crimes that took place in Europe.”
In 1992, Iranian and Hezbollah operatives assassinated Kurdish dissidents in a Mafia-style attack at the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin. Mousavian served as ambassador to Germany between 1990 and 1997. Mousavian has previously denied any involvement in the crimes that took place during his tenure as ambassador.
In addition to Mousavian’s defense of the Iranian regime’s fatwa to murder Rushdie, Mousavian has expressed support for two U.S.-designated terrorist movements, Hezbollah and Hamas. Princeton University’s campus experienced pro-Hezbollah activity during its anti-Israel protest last year.
Mousavian refused to answer FWI queries sent via email, phone, and WhatsApp text. Growing outrage over impunity for Mousavian’s alleged terrorism prompted Iranian Americans to confront Mousavian at Dartmouth College in September.
Mousavian has good reason to keep a low profile. U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced a policy of deporting terror supporters on college campuses.This announcement, coupled with Trump’s recent invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Washington, D.C., to discuss how to counter their “shared adversaries,” is clear indication that he is going to take a harder line against Islamism in the U.S. and the Iranian regime’s aggression in the Middle East. All of this puts Mousavian in an unwanted spotlight.
