Hooshang Amirahmadi, a Ph.D. in planning and international development from Cornell University has announced his candidacy for the upcoming Presidential elections in Iran. He is the father of Roxana Amirahmadi, a former Editor-In-Chief of the Cornell Progressive. He will run as an independent candidate on a reformist platform in the elections scheduled for June.
Amirahmadi is a professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He is the founder and president of the American-Iranian Council, a bipartisan think tank that works to promote better relations between the United States and Iran. He has held several positions in academia at Rutgers and Oxford that have allowed him to work closely with prominent Western and Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His platform includes improving ties with the U.S. and Israel, paying a diplomatic visit to the US, creating 6 million jobs, supporting a 
two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian question, opening Iran to foreign investment and ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program. However, he believes that under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has a right to pursue nuclear energy for “peaceful purposes”. He has also made it clear that if elected, his administration will not support Assad’s regime in Syria. He also intends to dissuade Hezbollah and Hamas from taking any terrorist actions against Israeli civilians.
Elections in Iran will be held on June 14 to elect the seventh President, successor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is constitutionally barred from running for a third term.
More information about Dr. Amirahmadi’s platform can be found on his official website http://www.amirahmadi.com
