Mahyar Entezari

Senior Researcher, Islamist Watch

Mahyar Entezari is the Islamist Watch senior researcher at the Middle East Forum. His prior research focused on Islamism and other ideologies in Iran and Afghanistan. He has taught Middle Eastern studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Texas at Austin, where he also earned his M.A. and Ph.D.

Articles by this Author

The razor-thin victory of Abdul el Sayed over Haley Stevens — with a margin of less than 1 percent or just 13,792 votes — followed an active season of politicking by at least seven Michigan mosques. Most of that activity appears to contradict IRS guidance. Image: Abdul el-Sayed at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 19, 2026.

Middle East Forum Online

I Fled Islamism in Iran. Now, American Tax Dollars Are Funding It in Michigan

Will the Federal Government Do Anything to Stop Islamists from Using Tax-Exempt Nonprofit Groups to Influence U.S. Elections?

October 20, 2026

Mahyar Entezari

Usama Abdulghani of Light of Guidance condemns Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s pro-LGBT politics beside a picture of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader. (Light of Guidance/YouTube)

FWI News

A Pro-Khomeini Imam’s Campaign Against El-Sayed

A Dearborn Cleric Loyal to Iran’s Ayatollahs Preached Against Michigan’s Democratic Senate Nominee, as Well as Reproductive and LGBT Rights, from a Pulpit Subsidized by Taxpayers

October 13, 2026

Mahyar Entezari