Iran News: Rouzbeh Parsi Resigns Amid Backlash Over Links to Iranian Influence Network
Rouzbeh Parsi, the director of the Middle East program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), has stepped down following months of public scrutiny and institutional pressure over his connections to a covert influence network tied to the Iranian regime.
Parsi’s resignation comes despite the findings of an internal investigation commissioned by the UI which claimed to find “no evidence” that Parsi was hired, directed, or financed by the clerical dictatorship. The probe, conducted by former ambassador Stefan Karlsson and lawyer Björn Riese, reviewed confidential documents and interviewed over 60 individuals. Nevertheless, the UI acknowledged that Parsi’s role had become untenable: “It has been a very stressful time for Parsi himself and both parties have agreed that UI’s Middle East program needs a fresh start to fully focus on its important issues,” the institute said in a statement.
Swedish broadcaster TV4, which broke the story last winter, reported that Parsi had been involved with the so-called “Iranian Experts Initiative,” a regime-orchestrated network launched by then Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to advance Tehran’s strategic narratives in Western policy circles. According to TV4’s earlier exposé, leaked Iranian Foreign Ministry documents revealed that Parsi participated in meetings organized and funded by the regime and coordinated messaging with high-level Iranian diplomats.
While the recent investigation stopped short of confirming that Parsi served as an official agent of the clerical dictatorship, it verified his participation in the network and criticized his lack of transparency with both UI and Lund University about this involvement. “This lack of openness is not consistent with the principles and interests of UI,” the report stated.
Criticism intensified as public officials and commentators expressed alarm at Parsi’s continued role in shaping Swedish foreign policy discourse. Sophie Löfvenmark, writing in Expressen, asserted that Parsi had been “a member of an influence network for a brutal dictatorship that today poses a threat to Sweden, to Iranians in the country, and to Jewish communities.”
Maria Malmer Stenergard, Sweden’s Foreign Minister, said on February 6, 2025: “The allegations [against Parsi] are very serious, and for that reason, we have contacted the Swedish Institute of International Affairs to obtain more information.”
In response to a question about how the Swedish government would react if the accusations were confirmed, she emphasized that “it is not possible to predict at this stage,” but stated that the government has “opened the door for dialogue on the matter.”
Stenergard added: “What I can say more generally is that Iran is conducting intelligence activities against Sweden, and we take this very seriously.”
This scandal has highlighted the clerical regime’s persistent and sophisticated efforts to embed operatives and sympathizers in Western institutions under the guise of academic expertise. Whether or not Rouzbeh Parsi was a paid asset, his resignation underscores the corrosive impact of Tehran’s soft-power campaigns on European democratic discourse.
As the Iranian regime faces intensifying internal dissent and regional isolation, its desperate reliance on such influence operations is not merely opportunistic—it is existential. Parsi’s case is a cautionary tale for European institutions: transparency is not optional when democratic integrity is at stake.
