Remarks by a former Iranian diplomat who is now a Princeton University scholar over Iranian threats against American officials have led to controversy.

In a documentary to mark Qasem Soleimani’s second death anniversary aired by state TV earlier this month, Hossein Mousavian talked about how Iran’s threat to avenge Soleimani killing frightened the wife of Brian Hook, Washington’s special envoy for Iran at the time.

“An American told me that Brian Hook’s wife had not slept for several days and that she was shaking and crying. That’s how afraid they were” Mousavian gloated in the documentary.

In a Friday statement condemning Mousavian, advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber “to dismiss him from any association or affiliation with Princeton without delay”, noting that “Ambassador Mousavian’s affiliation with Princeton is a stain on the university’s reputation and credibility”.

Late in December, an American academic who was imprisoned in Iran for 1,216 days, said Mousavian is sympathetic to the Iranian regime, claiming that he stymied efforts to free him from prison.

Mousavian, who traveled to Iran to attend the funeral service of Soleimani, was Tehran’s ambassador to Germanywhen four Iranian dissidents were assassinated at Berlin's Mykonos restaurant in 1992.