Farhang Mehr, a professor of international relations at Boston University, will speak tonight about the impact of religion and politics in the Middle East.

A member of Iran’s small Zoroastrian religious community, Mehr triumphed over discrimination to rise to political eminence in a predominantly Islamic world. He served as chancellor of Pahlavi University where he contributed to the effort to revolutionize Iran’s university education system.

The event is at 6 p.m. in the Mumford Room, on the sixth floor of the Library of Congress’ James Madison Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

— Sara Faiwell