Helyeh Doutaghi

Helyeh Doutaghi is an Iranian legal scholar who is a former associate research scholar at Yale Law School where she was deputy Director of the Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project from 2023 to 2025. Doutaghi was terminated from her position at Yale in 2025 amid allegations that she was affiliated with the controversial pro-Palestinian group Samidoun.

Suspension and controversy

On March 4, 2025, Doutaghi was placed on administrative leave from her position at Yale Law School following allegations that she was associated with Samidoun (a group that has been designated by The U.S. Department Of the Treasury as a "sham charitable organization" engaged in fundraising for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.) Doutaghi denied any unlawful affiliation, accused Yale of bad faith during the investigation, and said that "we are entering an era of Zionist McCarthyism." A March 17, 2025 online open letter signed by over 1,000 persons, including many academics, students, and professionals expressed solidarity with Doutaghi and called for Yale to clear her name.

On March 28, 2025 she was terminated from her employment at Yale for what the university described as a failure to cooperate with the investigation. Doutaghi and her lawyer denied an accusation stating that they were willing to answer in writing and their refusal to Appear in person was based on concerns that she could be detained and deported (she worked in Yale on a visa).