ATLANTA: Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, is working as a physician in the United States, according to public records, raising questions about the personal choices of Iranian officials amid anti-US rhetoric.
Ardeshir-Larijani serves as a haematologist and medical oncologist at Emory University Hospital’s Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta. She specializes in thoracic oncology, including the treatment of lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma, and thymic tumours. Additionally, she holds an assistant professorship in the Department of Haematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine.
She earned her medical degree from Tehran University of Medical Sciences before completing a residency in internal medicine at Case Western Reserve University. She subsequently undertook a haematology and oncology fellowship at Indiana University, where she also obtained a master’s degree in clinical research.
Her father, Ali Larijani, has previously served as Iran’s parliament speaker and chief nuclear negotiator before becoming SNSC secretary. Larijani has repeatedly described the United States as a global threat, reflecting Iran’s official stance, labelling Washington the “Great Satan.”
The revelation has drawn renewed attention to the paradox of senior Iranian officials whose family members live, study, or work in Western countries, despite the regime’s hostile posture. Other examples include children of former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attending American universities.
The Guardian Council previously disqualified Ali Larijani from political candidacy, citing violations of an SNSC regulation restricting officials’ family members from living or travelling in nations deemed hostile.
Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani’s career in the United States highlights the complex intersection between personal choices of Iranian elites and Tehran’s official anti-American rhetoric, prompting scrutiny of potential contradictions within the country’s political and security leadership.
