Kamran Daneshjoo
کامران دانشجوMinister of Science, Research and Technology (2009–2013); head of 2009 election headquarters; IRGC-affiliated
Kamran Daneshjoo is an Iranian university professor who served as Minister of Science, Research and Technology from 2009 to 2013 under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Before his appointment, he headed the Ministry of Interior's election headquarters for the disputed 2009 presidential election, and opposition leaders accused him of engineering electoral fraud.
As Minister of Science, Daneshjoo implemented controversial policies including preferential university admissions for Basij members and purges of reformist faculty, drawing condemnation from human rights organizations. He was sanctioned by the European Union in October 2012 for his involvement in Iran's nuclear program, specifically as former project manager of Section 111 of the AMAD Plan.
His academic credentials were disputed: the chairman of the Education Committee of the Islamic Consultative Assembly stated he did not hold a legitimate PhD, and a 2009 Nature investigation found extensive plagiarism in a paper he co-authored.