NY police beat up Iranian professor

A US-based Iranian university professor and senior political analyst, Kaveh Afrasiabi, says he has been brutally beaten up by police officers in New York.

Speaking to IRNA on Tuesday, professor Afrasiabi explained about the unusual manner in which he was arrested, saying that he was handcuffed and sent to jail under the pretext that he had not paid his traffic ticket.

“While handcuffed I was pushed to the front. Then my head hit a metal rod and I was seriously wounded. I was then sent to the hospital in an ambulance due to severe injuries,” said Afrasiabi who could hardly speak.

After he was discharged from the hospital, the police took him to court where the judge ordered his release.

Afrasiabi said his arrest came over a traffic ticket which he had to pay 25 years ago.

Afrasiabi has taught political science at Tehran University, Boston University, and Bentley College. He has also been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, UC Berkeley and Binghamton University.

The Iranian professor, who is a former consultant to the UN program of Dialogue Among Civilizations, has appeared on numerous television talk shows, including Press TV, CNN, MSNBC and Al-Jazeera. He has also worked as a consultant to CBS’s 60 Minutes program.

He has also authored the book After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran’s Foreign Policy’ and is a co-author of Reading in Iran Foreign Policy After September 11.