Mazyar Keshvari ( fa, مازیار کشوری; born 5 March 1981) is an Iranian-born

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

for the Progress Party and a

convicted felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

who is serving two prison sentences for

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

and violent threats.Mazyar Keshvari dømt for våpentrusler mot eks-samboeren
/ref> He was elected as a substitute member of the Norwegian parliament for the city of Oslo in 2013, representing the right-wing and anti-immigration Progress Party, and attended parliamentary sessions from 2013 to 2018 as the substitute of the mandate holder

Siv Jensen Siv Jensen (born 1 June 1969) is a Norwegian who served as the leader of the Progress Party from 2006 to 2021. She also held the position as Minister of Finance from 2013 to 2020 in the Solberg Cabinet. She was also a member of the Norwegian pa ...

who has been on leave from parliament during her government service. As a politician he was known for taking a hard stance on

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

, calling for a complete ban on further immigration to Norway, a stop to the practice of accepting

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

in Norway, and the deportation of immigrants convicted of crimes. In 2019 he was convicted of aggravated fraud for defrauding the Norwegian parliament and in 2020 he was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment.Keshvari dømt til elleve måneders fengsel

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

He left the Norwegian parliament following his indictment in 2018 and also left the Progress Party in October 2019. In 2019 he was also arrested and charged with making violent threats, and he was convicted and sentenced to an additional four months in prison in 2020.

Early life and education

Born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Mazyar Keshvari and his family left Iran in the aftermath of the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

because his family had ties to the

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

, and came to Norway as an

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

in 1986, eventually settling in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. Upon finishing Ulsrud Upper Secondary school in 2001, he enrolled at the

BI Norwegian Business School BI Norwegian Business School () is the largest business school in Norway and the second largest in all of Europe. BI has in total four campuses with the main one located in Oslo. The university has 845 employees consisting of an academic staff o ...

and graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Information and Public Relations in 2005.

Political career

He joined the Youth of the Progress Party in 2001 and quickly became a rising star, first chairing the local

Groruddalen The Grorud Valley ( no, Groruddalen) is a valley and urban area or suburb in the northeastern part of Oslo, the capital of Norway. Four of Oslo's boroughs lie within the Grorud Valley; Bjerke to the west, Alna to the south, Grorud to the north, ...

chapter and later chairing its

chapter from 2004 to 2006; he is still a member of its

Central committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

. He has also been editor-in-chief of the political magazine ''Fri Kapitalisme''. He was first elected to Oslo city council in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, and was re-elected for another term in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, and is the current chairman of the

Standing Committee on Health and Care Services The Standing Committee on Health and Care Services ( no, Helse- og omsorgskomiteen) is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to health services, care and attendance services, public health, drug ...

. Since 2005, Keshvari has been serving as a deputy representative from Oslo to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

. He was re-elected to a second four-year term running to 2013. Apart from politics he sits on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

at the

Sunnaas Hospital Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital is a hospital in Nesodden, Norway, and a health trust under Helse Sør-Øst. Sunnaas is the country's largest specialized hospital in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Patient services include cancer services, b ...

, as well as being chairman of the official

Constitution Day Constitution Day is a holiday to honour the constitution of a country. Constitution Day is often celebrated on the anniversary of the signing, promulgation or adoption of the constitution, or in some cases, to commemorate the change to constitut ...

committee. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

he was elected as a deputy MP for a third term. As

was selected as a member of

Solberg's Cabinet The Solberg Cabinet was the government of the Kingdom of Norway, headed by Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg as Prime Minister from 16 October 2013 to 14 October 2021. The government was appointed by King Harald V on 16 October 2013 followin ...

, Keshvari advanced to a regular representative. In 2019 he cancelled his membership in the Progress Party.

Political views

Iran

He has made his mark in the Norwegian

public sphere The public sphere (german: Öffentlichkeit) is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. A "Public" is "of or concerning th ...

as a staunch opponent of the Iranian

theocracy Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy origina ...

, often condemning the regime in the media. In June 2009 he called for tough sanctions against Iran including a complete boycott of the regime. During the 2009 Iranian election protests he described the regime as ''not only a threat against the Iranian people, but the entire world at large''. In response to the violent crackdown on the protesters he called the Iranian leadership a "terror-regime", and compared Iran's

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

to comical Ali. A fierce critic of the Red-green coalition's foreign policy on Iran, he states : ''The Norwegian government's failed policies are putting world peace in danger. By giving this islamo-fascist regime with nuclear ambitions resources and technology, they are sustaining and legitimizing its existence''

Immigration

Keshvari is known taking a hard stance on immigration, calling for a complete ban on further immigration to Norway, a stop to the practice of accepting

in Norway, and the deportation of immigrants convicted of crimes. He has stated that immigrants who do not comply with "Norwegian values" should "beat it". He has repeatedly called for a complete ban on further immigration to Norway, stating that it is not sustainable in the long-term. Responding to government plans to open a centre for asylum-seekers on

Andøya Andøya is the northernmost island in the Vesterålen archipelago, situated about inside the Arctic circle. Andøya is located in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The main population centres on the island include the villages of ...

in 2008 he described the plans as "irresponsible" and "almost madness" and stated that immigration to Norway was "totally out of control". Outspoken against what he perceives as progressive ethnic segregation of Oslo neighborhoods, Keshvari has repeatedly accused fellow politicians who reside in Oslo's largely homogeneous west-end of having "elitist-attitudes" when praising the situation. Especially he targeted the Conservative Party's Julie Brodtkorb who he believed had "elitist-syndrome". In response to public outcry over the establishment of

roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

tent encampments in the center of Oslo during the summer of 2012, Keshvari demanded their "immediate expulsion" along with the forced closure of such camps, while reiterating the need for a total ban on public

begging Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public place ...

, but at the same he warned politicians against inflaming already high anti-roma sentiment in the city. He also opposes

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

Animal rights

Keshvari has advocated a rich and diverse wildlife in and around Oslo. He has opposed calls from the Centre Party for the culling of the

grey wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

population in the østmarka woods outside Oslo.

Controversy

In 2014 Keshvari was accused of making death threats against

debate moderator Ingunn Solheim in an Oslo pub. Keshvari maintained that the comments were made in jest, and NRK decided against filing charges. In 2018

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

revealed that Keshvari had received several reimbursements of travel expenses for trips that he could not possibly have made. Keshvari admitted to defrauding the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

, and declared that he wanted to make amends and pay back the reimbursements. In October 2019, he canceled his membership in the Progress Party and he was sentenced to seven months prison for gross fraud. In February 2019, Keshvari was arrested for making "serious threats" involving a firearm. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Personal life

He lives in the Oslo suburb of

Ellingsrud Ellingsrud is a neighbourhood in the borough of Alna in the north-east part of Oslo, Norway. Ellingsrud consists of Ellingsrudåsen, Bakås, Fjeldstad, Karihaugen, Munkebekken, and the small area of Kaiekroken, located in the far east close to ...

. A lifelong aficionado of Persian culture and

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...

, his favourite food is

Jujeh kabab Jujeh kabab ( fa, جوجه‌ کباب, literally "grilled chick") is an Iranian dish that consists of grilled chunks of chicken which are sometimes with bone and other times without bone. It is one of the most common and popular dishes of Iran. I ...

. He is also a patron of fine arts including paintings, and especially the works of

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

, replicas of which adorned his former office at Oslo City Hall.

References

External links

*
Official Twitter account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keshvari, Mazyar 1981 births Living people Norwegian fraudsters Prisoners and detainees of Norway Iranian emigrants to Norway Progress Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Politicians from Oslo BI Norwegian Business School alumni People from Tehran Norwegian politicians of Iranian descent 21st-century Norwegian politicians 21st-century Norwegian criminals Norwegian male criminals Norwegian politicians convicted of crimes