A Congressman from New York has called for a special inquiry into possible Iranian state funding of American universities after a federal court ruling last week found a local charity to be an arm of the Islamic Republic.
According to a report in the New York Post, Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) has called on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to look into money donated by the New York-based Alavi Foundation to Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Catholic University of America and Sacred Heart University, among others.
Harvard alone received more than $600,000 from the foundation, the Algemeiner reported.
“Did this foundation attempt to subvert American academic institutions,” Donovan asked. "We need to investigate this, and universities have to do a better job of vetting their donors.”
Evidence of Alavi’s ties to Tehran came out during the trial, which centered around US efforts to seize a Manhattan skyscraper owned by the foundation. In a 1991 letter cited by the prosecution, the charity’s director indicated that he would step down if ordered to by the “the supreme leader.”
He also wrote that the foundation was "able to successfully carry out cultural and Islamic activities in the country of the Great Satan.”
