Iran International
Hassan Nemazee inherited one of Iran’s best-known charitable legacies, lost his family’s fortune to the 1979 revolution and later found a new cause inside a US prison: justice reform.
A businessman, philanthropist and Democratic fundraiser, Nemazee told Iran International that the revolution, the confiscation of his family’s assets and his years in prison reshaped how he thinks about Iran, freedom and justice.
In Shiraz, the name Nemazee Hospital remains more than the name of a medical center. It is a reminder of a philanthropic legacy built decades before the Islamic Republic, when Nemazee’s father used his fortune to create institutions that served the public.
“My father made his fortune outside of Iran and he repatriated that fortune to Iran,” Nemazee said. “He built the first modern hospital, the first modern nursing school, the first modern orphanage, and the first modern medical school.”
He said his father also built the country’s first piped water system, both to provide clean water for the hospital and to help finance free medical care for local residents.
“What he did was unique,” Nemazee said. “Most Iranians of that time and afterwards made their money in Iran and took it out. Philanthropy was an unknown process at that time.”
A legacy in Shiraz
Born in Washington, DC, and educated in the United States, Nemazee returned to Iran at 22 after his father’s death. He said he saw no other choice.
“There was no choice for me to do anything other than return to Iran when my father passed away,” he said.
Continuing his father’s work in Shiraz, he added, gave him “the greatest satisfaction” of his life.
Nemazee became chairman of the board of Nemazee Hospital, the nursing school and the Shiraz Waterworks, and also oversaw the family’s broader charitable institutions through Bonyad Iran.
At the same time, he entered business during what he described as Iran’s “golden years” of rapid economic growth before the revolution. He invested in insurance, banking and real estate, including joint ventures with major American institutions.
That life ended abruptly when he left Iran in December 1978 for what he expected to be a short business trip to the United States.
“I left Iran on what I thought would be a two-week business trip,” Nemazee said. “The Shah left in January of 1979. Khomeini returned in February of 1979. And in March, the Iranian government nationalized 51 families. We were one of the 51 families.”
He said the confiscation covered nearly everything he owned in Iran.
“Everything that I owned in Iran, my house, my possessions, horses, dogs, bank accounts, land, factories, everything was confiscated,” he said.
Nemazee said many people initially believed the revolution would target only the Shah and those closest to him, but its reach quickly widened.
“The revolutionaries had an agenda, and the agenda was to completely eradicate a certain level of people within the Iranian society,” he said.
Politics after exile
After returning to the United States, Nemazee rebuilt his life in business, philanthropy and politics.
He became a prominent Democratic fundraiser and developed close ties with Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as other senior Democrats including John Kerry, Al Gore, Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
He said his entry into American politics was partly shaped by the lesson he drew from Iran.
“I decided that I didn’t want to make the same mistake that I believe I had made in Iran, and that was abdicating any political responsibility for the country in which I lived,” he said.
President Bill Clinton later nominated Nemazee to serve as US ambassador to Argentina, but the nomination was blocked in the Senate. Nemazee summed up the reason in one word: “Politics.”
Years later, his life took another dramatic turn.
Nemazee pleaded guilty in the United States to inflating assets in loan documents, but said the banks did not lose money and that his punishment was excessive.
“The truth of the matter is that those assets were inflated,” he said. “The truth of the matter is as well that the banks never lost any money.”
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and entered prison on August 27, 2010. He served nine years before being released in 2019 under the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform law signed by President Donald Trump.
A longtime Democrat, Nemazee said he remains grateful to Trump for signing the law that allowed his early release.
“You have to give credit where credit is due,” he said. “It is ironic but true that Donald Trump was responsible for my coming home early.”
A prison sentence becomes a cause
Nemazee said prison changed the course of his life. While incarcerated, he read 2,651 books, wrote two books, taught GED classes and mentored hundreds of fellow inmates.
He said a friend had advised him before prison not to see the sentence only as lost time, but as “a gift of time” to write, teach, exercise, read and mentor others.
After his release, Nemazee turned much of his attention to criminal justice reform and helping former prisoners rebuild their lives.
He now serves on the board of the Fortune Society, a New York-based organization that supports former inmates with housing, education, employment and reintegration.
Nemazee said the United States has failed by imprisoning too many people for too long.
“The United States has 5% of the world’s population, yet it has 25% of the world’s prisoners,” he said. “That’s a statistic that is not only morally wrong, it’s economically unfeasible.”
He said many former prisoners face basic barriers after release, including difficulty opening bank accounts, finding housing and securing jobs.
“How can you begin to put your life back together if you don’t have the fundamental rights that every other human being has?” he said.
Despite the upheavals in his own life, Nemazee said he still hopes to return one day to Shiraz.
“I would love to be able to return to Shiraz. I would like to return to Iran,” he said. “It’s been 46 long years. It’s time for Iran to be able to turn the page and for all Iranians to have the freedoms that they so richly deserve.”
Asked what he would have done if the revolution had not happened, Nemazee said he would probably have continued the life he was building in December 1978: running businesses while expanding the hospital, nursing school, vocational schools and orphanages linked to his family’s legacy.
“Iran is a country of magnificent talent and opportunities,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s taken this moment in history during our lifetimes to not allow the people of Iran to progress in the ways that they deserve to progress.”
His is a story of loss and reinvention, but also of Iran itself: what was built, what was lost, and what future the country may still choose.
Ali Khamenei's funeral was intended to project national unity, but hardline attacks on the president and Iran's negotiators, the absence of former presidents, and renewed calls for revenge exposed deep divisions within Iran's political establishment.
The funeral processions in Tehran and Qom were overshadowed by hardline supporters chanting slogans against President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a sign of growing tensions over the government's diplomatic course.
Videos circulating on social media showed Pezeshkian being escorted through crowds by his security detail as mourners shouted "Death to the compromiser." Another video captured an even more hostile reception for Araghchi, with chants including "Death to the traitor," and "Shameless."
Yousef Pezeshkian, the president’s son and adviser, condemned the incident, writing: "If anger is directed against our own forces, targets Muslim unity and undermines domestic cohesion, it means we have become a tool in the enemy's hands and opened a window of hope for it to inflict further blows."
The attacks prompted strong criticism from reformists as well as some conservatives who support parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf's cooperation with the government and negotiations with the United States.
Conservative journalist Mohammad Mohajeri criticized senior officials, particularly Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr and some members of the Supreme National Security Council, for remaining silent. "Their silence is itself creating an even greater sedition."
Reformist journalist Ali Asghar Shafieian argued that the slogans damaged Iran's national interests. "On the day of the funeral, when even critics wore black out of respect for Iran and its leader, slogans against the state's decision to end the war and against negotiators seeking sanctions relief dealt a blow to national dignity and security."
Notable absences
The funeral also drew attention for the absence of former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani, despite official expectations that the ceremonies would showcase unprecedented national solidarity. Former foreign minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif was also absent, while images showed former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attending the public procession.
Authorities have not explained whether the former officials chose not to attend or were prevented from doing so.
Unlike Pezeshkian, Ghalibaf, and Hassan Khomeini – the grandson of Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah Khomeini – attended only the tightly controlled farewell ceremony at Tehran's Mosalla rather than the public street procession.
Political analyst Ahmad Zeidabadi argued that the hostile atmosphere explained the absences. "[The behaviour of] those who ignored the sanctity of the funeral by insulting the president and foreign minister clearly explains why figures such as Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani did not attend."
He added: "If they showed no mercy even to Pezeshkian, who enjoyed Khamenei's full trust and respect, it is obvious what they would have done had Khatami or Rouhani appeared."
The reformist-leaning website Rouydad24 described the absence of former presidents as "not merely a ceremonial issue, but the loss of an opportunity to demonstrate political consensus at one of the country's most sensitive moments."
Calls for revenge dominate messaging
During the mourning ceremonies, some participants repeatedly called for retaliation against the United States, Israel, and particularly US President Donald Trump, whom they blamed for Khamenei's death. Many mourners carried red flags symbolizing vengeance.
One supporter wrote: "Officials, do you see these flags of revenge? People will be calmed by revenge against the enemy – not by negotiations."
Hardline journalist Parisa Nasrabadi argued: "Avenging the martyred leader is a decisive step toward restoring lost deterrence, a duty to prevent future assassinations of leaders, and an absolute necessity to protect the position of Iran's young leader."
Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the hardline Kayhan newspaper, called on the government to officially declare Trump and even the pilots allegedly involved in Khamenei's killing worthy of death wherever they are found, and proposed offering a bounty for anyone who kills Trump.
Another commentary published by Tabnak argued that the massive turnout and chants demonstrated that Iranian authorities had "no option but to exact retribution against the killers of the martyred leader."
Was the funeral a referendum?
Several pro-government figures portrayed the turnout as a public referendum endorsing the Islamic Republic.
Lawmaker Jafar Ghaderi described it as "the revolution's largest popular referendum," arguing that the government should now respond by addressing economic concerns and rewarding public loyalty.
Zeidabadi challenged the analogy, writing: "It would be good to explain exactly what this referendum is about and in which law a 'street referendum' is defined."
A social media user similarly argued that authorities have long portrayed public gatherings as proof of popular endorsement without specifying either the subject of the alleged referendum or its legal basis.
Foreign influencers welcomed
The funeral also featured several foreign journalists and pro-Iran commentators, including American media personality Jackson Hinkle, The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal, and British journalist and blogger Bushra Sheikh, all of whom are known for criticizing Western policy toward Iran. Their presence was widely celebrated by government supporters online.
A widely shared video showed Hinkle standing on a stage in Tehran’s Enghelab Square, leading mourners in chants of “Death to Zionists,” “Death to Israel” and “Death to America,” with the crowd repeating the slogans after him.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.