The son of a notorious Iranian regime leader is enjoying an affluent lifestyle in Los Angeles, the California Post can reveal.
Campaigners are calling for Eissa Hashemi, 43, to be investigated and deported for defiantly refusing to denounce his mother’s sickening past.
On Monday, he appeared unfazed by the controversy and defiantly brushed off a reporter’s questions, declining to speak after a workout at his fancy gym.
The college psychology lecturer is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, known as “Screaming Mary,” who acted as spokesperson for violent militants who stormed the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
She was infamous worldwide for firing off twisted propaganda during the crisis, even encouraging captives to describe the punishing ordeal in glowing terms.
Ebtekar was later promoted to Vice President for Women and Family Affairs by regime leaders – becoming the country’s first female VP and one of the highest-ranking women in the Muslim world today.
In January, protestors gathered at the $20,000 a year Chicago School in in Claremont, east LA, and other teaching institutions in the area with links to Hashemi, for rallies calling for him to be deported.
Organizers of Change.org petitions want Hashemi to be kicked out of the country.
One wrote: “While the mother has no regret of occupying the US embassy in Tehran, many Iranians have been affected by this action while her own son has taken advantage of living in the US.
“We want Issa Hashemi and his wife, Maryam Tahmasebi to be fired from the US as soon as possible.”
A poster on Instagram said: “Mr. Hashemi has never publicly distanced himself from his mother’s actions or legacy.
“I believe Eissa Hashemi’s affiliations could undermine the safety, trust, integrity, values, or commitment to human rights at an American college, warranting further examination.”
Another said: “47 years ago, Masoumeh Ebtekar took U.S. diplomats hostage for 444 days and threatened to kill them.
“Today, her son, Isa [sic] Hashemi works for Chicago School of Professional Psychology and lives freely in Los Angeles.”
And one more added: “His father was also one of the core group of leaders of the Muslim Students Followers of the Imam’s Line and several of the former hostages, including my father, positively identified him as being present during their torture and interrogation.
“His mother was perhaps even crueler than some of the other captors. This guy has no business being in this country. I’ve been dogging him since 2015.”
Hashemi graduated from the University of Tehran in 2006 then reportedly moved to the US in 2010 and pursued his PhD in organizational leadership from The Chicago School.
He currently is an adjunct associate professor at his alma mater, enjoying the freedom his mother helped strip from American diplomats decades ago.
Records show he resides in Agoura Hills in LA County with his fellow psychology professor wife Maryam Tahmasebi.
Traumatized former hostage Michael Metrinko once said of his mother: “If she were on fire on the street, I wouldn’t piss on her to put it out.”
