Iranian Princeton professor who compared Israel to Nazi Germany and endorsed Hezbollah and Hamas is under House probe for advancing interests of his home country

An Iranian Princeton professor who is being probed by the House has been accused of endorsing Hamas and Hezbollah after a decades-old interview resurfaced. 

In an interview in 1997 with German newspaper Taz, Seyed Hossein Mousavian was asked if Iran supports groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. 

Mousavian, who was the Iranian Ambassador to Germany at the time, seems to throw his support behind Hamas during the interview.

According to a translation by the US Middle East Media Research Institute, he said: 'If by that you mean that we supply Hamas with weapons: No, we do not. But if you mean that we support the Palestinians in their struggle, yes, we do.'

When asked by the outlet if Iran provided Hezbollah with material or financial support, he added: 'We support Hezbollah morally and not by supplying weapons.'

In an interview in 1997 with German newspaper Taz, Seyed Hossein Mousavian, seen here,was asked if Iran supports groups like Hezbollah and Hamas

Mousavian speaks during a panel discussion on 'Syrias Trajectory and Challenges for the United States' in Washington, USA on April 6, 2017

Mousavian, who now works as a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University, has also came under fire over anti-Semitic social media posts.

One such post shared in October last year, reads: 'With the rain bomb of a hospital and the martyrdom of hundreds of injured Palestinians and medical staff, Israel violated all international conventions.

'[They have] committed a great and unforgivable war crime, repeated a crime similar to the Holocaust crime of Nazi Germany, and of course, the hypocrisy of the West in defending human rights.'

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Fox: 'Cleary, this is a person who feels no matter what he does that his status will be protected at Princeton.

'Anyone who uses that language is proving his anti-Semitic credentials. He feels confident and is immune from any action against him. 

'Princeton has a lot to answer for. To say this is a scandal would not give justice to the issues exposed. 

'It might be time to call Princeton University forward at a congressional hearing because it covers issues of sensitive national security.'

Mousavian is also currently facing an investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce for allegedly advancing the interests of Iran. 

Mousavian works as a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University

In one post to his social media last year, Mousavian said the Israeli government was comparable to Nazi Germany 

According to a congressional letter, first seen by Fox, twelve Republican committee members questioned Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber about him. 

The letter detailed questions about the influence of Iran via his activities on the campus of the Ivy League school. 

In November last year, Representative Lisa McClain told Fox: 'Higher education has bowed down to the radical left and enemies of America for far too long, and the mere fact that a former member of the Iranian regime is given a platform at Princeton is proof.

'The Islamic Republic of Iran is not our friend. They are a major adversary, a state sponsor of terrorism, and a destabilizing force in the Middle East that sympathizes with Hamas. 

'We cannot let a radical Iranian manipulate young American minds, and it’s well past time we do something about it.'

While Iran's ambassador to Germany, he was in charge of the embassy that a Berlin court found was the HQ for the planning of the 1992 assassination of four Iranian dissidents, Fox reported. 

In a 1997 article from the Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, a former Iranian intelligence official told a court during the trial that 'Mousavian participated in most of the [regimes] crimes that took place in Europe. 

Mousavian hit back at this last year, telling Fox: 'This accusation is a big lie. The Berlin court verdict does not contain any direct or indirect allegations against me.'

Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in airstrikes launched by the Trump administration in 2020,

In 2022, he sparked fury after smiling during an interview when discussing how a US diplomat's wife was unable to sleep over fears she'd be murdered in revenge for the assassination of an Iranian general. 

Mousavian gave a smile during the interview with Iranian TV while discussing the terror US special envoy for Iran Brian Hook and spouse are said to fear. 

He was being interview following the January 2020 assassination of Qasem Soleimani by the Trump administration, and how Iran had vowed for revenge. 

Mousavian said: 'I went to America and an American told me that Brian Hook's wife can't sleep, she cries and trembles, she told Brian, 'They'll kill you,' since Hook was a partner in the death of Haj Qassem [Soleimani], that's how much they were trembling,' Mousavian said. 

Soleimani, nicknamed the 'Shadow General,' was considered by some analysts to be the right-hand man of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, as well as the second-most powerful person in Iran behind him. 

He was assassinated in a targeted American drone strike on January 3, 2020 at Baghdad International Airport, in Iraq, on the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump. 

When approached by DailyMail.com Mousavian said he had no time for an interview due to his work at Princeton.