Rutgers scholar Hooshang Amirahmadi, a former candidate for president of Iran and the founder and president of the American Iranian Council, is available to comment on the latest developments in U.S.-Iranian tensions following the assassination of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani of Iran.

Amirahmadi, a distinguished service professor, is an expert on Iranian affairs at Rutgers–New Brunswick’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

“The U.S. assassination of Iran’s top general is unprecedented,” he said. “Tension has risen to an unparalleled level. The assassination signals the end of diplomacy between the two governments and the beginning of a variety of military operations. This is a disastrous course for both nations."

Amirahmadi, who was a candidate in Iran’s 2005, 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, is a former director of Rutgers University­–New Brunswick’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the author of Revolution and Economic Transition: The Iranian Experience.

He can be reached at [email protected] or 609-509-2999.