Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta has announced that the daughter of senior Iranian official Ali Larijani, Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, is no longer employed by the university, the student-run school newspaper reported.
Citing Emory University School of Medicine Dean Sandra Wong, the paper said an email was sent to medical school faculty on Jan. 24 announcing that a doctor who is also the daughter of a senior Iranian government official is no longer a University employee.
The news came in light of Iran protests that left thousands dead and also after a protest by Iranian-American demonstrators, who gathered outside Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute to oppose the employment, the paper said.
“Before her departure from Emory, Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani was an assistant professor in the department of hematology and medical oncology at the medical school,” the Emory Wheel reported.
It added that Ardeshir-Larijani’s Emory faculty page and Emory Healthcare pages were no longer visible as of Jan. 24.
The paper also cited a statement from Andrea Clement, the associate director of public relations at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, who said that the issue was a “personnel matter.”
“Emory is committed to advancing patient care, research, and education,” Clement said, according to the Emory Wheel. “Our employees are hired in full compliance with state and federal laws and other applicable requirements.”
Ali Larijani is the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. He was sanctioned by the US on January 15 among other officials.
At the time the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it was “taking action against the architects of the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.”
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