(In a decision that followed days of protests and mounting political pressure, Emory University has terminated the employment of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of a top Iranian security official currently under U.S. sanctions.)
Emory University School of Medicine Dean Sandra Wong confirmed in a January 24, 2026, email that Ardeshir-Larijani, an assistant professor and oncologist, is no longer with the institution. The move follows an intensive protest on January 19 at the Winship Cancer Institute, where demonstrators decried her employment given her father Ali Larijani’s role as Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Ali Larijani was recently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for coordinating the “brutal crackdown” on peaceful protesters in Iran, which has reportedly resulted in thousands of deaths.
Political pressure peaked when U.S. Representative Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) demanded her immediate removal and the revocation of her medical license, arguing that a relative of a regime calling for the “death of Americans” should not treat patients in a U.S. institution. While Emory cited the dismissal as a “personnel matter,” the decision aligns with a broader Trump administration review of immigration benefits granted to relatives of Iranian officials. Ardeshir-Larijani, who practiced under the name “Fatemeh Ardeshir,” has seen her faculty pages and professional profiles scrubbed from university websites as her legal and immigration status remains under federal scrutiny.
