Helyeh Doutaghi
Helyeh Doutaghi | |
|---|---|
حلیا دوطاقی | |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Carleton University (BA, PhD) King's College London (LLM)[1] |
| Thesis | Wealth Drain and Value Transfer: A Study of the Mechanisms, Harms, and Beneficiaries of the Sanctions Regime on Iran (2024) |
| Doctoral advisor | Umut Özsu, Christiane Wilke |
| Other advisors | Michael Fakhri, Rebecca Schein, Doris Buss, Betina Appel Kuzmarov |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Law |
| Institutions | Yale Law School |
| Main interests | International law |
Helyeh Doutaghi is an Iranian legal scholar who is a former associate research scholar at Yale Law School where she was deputy director of the Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project from 2023 to 2025.[2][3] Doutaghi was terminated from her position at Yale in 2025 amid allegations that she was affiliated with the controversial pro-Palestinian group Samidoun.[4]
She has published in the Leiden Journal of International Law, Middle East Critique, Articles of War, Geopolitical Economy Report, The Conversation, The Hill Times, and Rabble.ca.
Suspension and controversy
On March 4, 2025, Doutaghi was placed on administrative leave from her position at Yale Law School following allegations that she was associated with Samidoun (a group that has been designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a "sham charitable organization" engaged in fundraising for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[5]) Doutaghi denied any unlawful affiliation, accused Yale of bad faith during the investigation, and said that "we are entering an era of Zionist McCarthyism."[6] A March 17, 2025 online open letter signed by over 1,000 persons, including many academics, students, and professionals expressed solidarity with Doutaghi and called for Yale to clear her name. [7]
On March 28, 2025 she was terminated from her employment at Yale for what the university described as a failure to cooperate with the investigation.[8] Doutaghi and her lawyer denied an accusation stating that they were willing to answer in writing and their refusal to appear in person was based on concerns that she could be detained and deported (she worked in Yale on a visa).[9]
References
- ^ "Helyeh Doutaghi". LPE Project. Archived from the original on 2025-06-01.
- ^ "Yale sacks legal scholar amid probe into ties to Palestinian terror fundraiser". www.timesofisrael.com.
- ^ "Yale Suspends Scholar After A.I.-Powered News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist Link". The New York Times. 12 March 2025.
- ^ Tillen, Chris (28 March 2025). "Yale Law School terminates scholar amid terrorist link allegations, cites "refusal to cooperate"". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
- ^ "US imposes sanctions on 'sham charity' fundraising for Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine". Reuters. October 15, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
- ^ Doutaghi, Helyeh (13 March 2025). "Suspended for Pro-Palestine Speech: My statement on Yale Law School's embrace of AI-generated smears". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "Statement of support for Helyeh Doutaghi". OpenLetter. March 17, 2025. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
- ^ Michael Powell (March 12, 2025). "Yale Suspends Scholar After A.I.-Powered News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist Link". The New York Times. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
- ^ "Yale Law School terminates Iranian scholar amid controversy over pro-Palestinian views". Associated Press. March 12, 2025. Retrieved April 15, 2025.