Iran Snapshot: Oxford Investigates Ph.D. of Rafsanjani's Son (Syal)
Monday, March 28, 2011 at 6:46
A twist in the case of Mehdi Hashemi, the son of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has been in self-imposed exile in Britain since summer 2009 amidst regime threats to prosecute him for fraud and electoral manipulation --- Rajeev Syal reports for The Guardian of London:
The son of the former Iranian president Akbar Rafsanjani is being investigated by Oxford University after claims that his successful doctoral thesis proposal was written with the help of others.
Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former head of Iran's state-owned gas company, began a five-year DPhil course in the Iranian constitution at the faculty of oriental studies in October.
An Oxford academic has complained that the university's usual high standards have been "subverted" with the help of university insiders to allow Hashemi to study. If proven, he could be asked to leave. Hashemi, who helped co-ordinate the 2009 election opposition campaign against Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denies the Oxford claims and has defended his application. Friends say he is the victim of a witch-hunt.
The disclosure of the inquiry comes amid intense scrutiny of universities and their relationships with the children of prominent figures from the Middle East.
Sir Howard Davies stood down as director of the London School of Economics earlier this month following claims that it had become too close to Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif, and the Libyan regime and too reliant on their funds.
Recently, pro-government newspapers in Iran claimed that Hashemi, who is also known as Mahdi Hashemi Bahramani, is an associate of Saif Gaddafi.
Sir Peter North QC, a former Oxford vice-chancellor and an internationally renowned legal scholar, is heading the Oxford inquiry. Rules state that all of a proposal must be written by the prospective student.
Also being investigate are allegations that Hashemi's English is not good enough to compose a DPhil at Oxford and that he has failed to live within 12 miles of Oxford city centre.
North has interviewed academics and university officials in connection with the 10-week inquiry.
The university's registrar first received the claims in December from at least two academics.
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