October 14, 2022
The Iranian-American Medical Association (IAMA) has effectively dismissed its president because he attended a meeting of a group of expatriates held with President Raisi during his September visit to New York City to attend the UN General Assembly.
The association issued a statement September 25 saying it only became aware that its president, Shervin Mortazavi, had met with Raisi when a photo was issued of Raisi with the group of about 40 expats surrounding him.
The Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of the Medical Association said in its statement, “Dr. Mortazavi has publicly stated this was a private engagement that had nothing to do with his role at IAMA.”
But the association said, “Regardless of the reason, this was not acceptable by the Board members, hence, accordingly and unanimously, the Board asked him to resign immediately.” Mortazavi immediately did so in a two-sentence letter.
The IAMA statement added that the boards had also asked him “to distance himself completely from our organization, which, during its 30 years’ history, has solely been a scientific, humanitarian, non-political, non-religious, and non-profit organization.” The statement concluded, “We, as IAMA members, like other Iranians all over the world, strongly condemn what has happened to Mahsa Amini, a young innocent girl, as a distinct violation of human rights.”
