BAHMAN KALBASIIn its statements, the US State Department is applying Israel’s positions Interview with Shahid Qureshi, fired for non-compliance

Bahman Kalbasi, BBC Persian, 17/9/2025

Bahman Kalbasi is the BBC Persian’s  correspondent at the United Nations in New York.

Translated by Tlaxcala

(Since Qureshi’s remarks in English were simultaneously translated into Farsi for broadcast, we have retranslated them into English from the Farsi version.)

 

Shahid Qureshi worked in the Bureau of Global Public Affairs of the US State Department and was recently dismissed from his job. Mr. Qureshi tells Bahman Kalbasi in a special interview program: Condolences to the families of Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli army in Gaza and emphasizing USA’s opposition to ethnic cleansing in Gaza were positions that he intended to include in State Department statements according to the usual procedure, and this is why he was dismissed. In his first interview with a Persian-language media outlet after his dismissal from the US State Department, Mr. Qureshi talks about what happened and his experience working in different US administrations.

Bahman Kalbasi: In the months following Donald Trump’s return to the White House, pressure has increased on a number of activists and students opposed to Israel’s war in Gaza; from the administration’s efforts to deport some who were not U.S. citizens to firing others from their jobs. Shahid Qureshi worked in the public relations department of the U.S. State Department and was recently dismissed from his job. He had tried to include, based on the usual procedure, condolences to the families of Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli military and opposition to ethnic cleansing in Gaza in the State Department’s statements. He says this is precisely why he was fired. This is his first interview with a Persian-language media outlet since his dismissal from the U.S. State Department, in which he talks about his experience in both the previous and current administrations, as well as what happened. I am Bahman Kalbasi , and I am speaking with this former U.S. State Department employee in a Special Dialogue.

 

Shahid Qureshi, thank you for the opportunity you’ve given BBC Persian. Before we get into the matter, could you talk a bit about yourself? Where were you born? Where did you grow up?

 

Shahid Qureshi: Yes, I was born in Seattle in 1991. For university, I studied International Relations at the University of Washington. My parents are from the city of Saveh in Iran and came to America around the time of the revolution. After getting my bachelor’s degree, I went to Washington D.C. and got my master’s degree in the same field, International Relations.

 

Bahman Kalbasi: How did you end up working for the U.S. State Department?

 

Shahid Qureshi: From a young age, and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, I became sensitive to the endless wars the United States had become involved in. I felt that the image of Iraq formed in American public opinion before the invasion helped justify that operation. When we traveled to Iran to visit family and returned to America, seeing a similar negative image being formed about Iran worried me that what happened in Iraq could be repeated for Iran. 

That’s why I became very active in civil society organizations working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and prevent its repetition in Iran. At the same time, working at the State Department was appealing to me as a diplomat, both to understand the forces that lead a country to war and to help find diplomatic paths for resolving disputes instead of war. I am very happy I was able to work there for a while.

 

Bahman Kalbasi : When you joined the U.S. State Department, what exactly did you do in your role in public relations? What were your duties?