A Dismissed Professor from Tehran University Announces the Finalization of His Suspension Order

Azin Mohadd, a dismissed professor from Tehran University, announced in an interview with a news agency in Iran that his suspension issue has not only remained unresolved but that despite promises of 'reconciliation' and 'returning dismissed professors' to universities, his suspension order has also been finalized. This university professor stated that last week he was informed by phone that the preliminary ruling of a six-month temporary suspension issued on November 4, 2023, which had long been awaiting a final verdict, has finally been confirmed and the six-month suspension order will be enforced, meaning that 'I will not return to the university until Farvardin 1404 (March 2025).' Ms. Mohadd emphasized that over the past year, there were two attempts for her return, 'but there was no attention to the false case that the university's security had opened in the faculty disciplinary committee.' This university professor also mentioned, 'Suspension means absence from class, not the cessation of salary, but Tehran University, contrary to regulations, cut my salary.' Regarding the reasons for her suspension, Mohadd stated that during the protests of 2022, 'when 27 music students were summoned to the disciplinary committee, I, along with three other professors, went with the students to the disciplinary committee's door, and in addition to the statement I had issued at the beginning of the protests in support of the students, such behaviors and supports were heavy for the university.' The government's claim of returning professors, made by Masoud Pezeshkian, comes at a time when, besides Ms. Mohadd, a group of dismissed professors from Iranian universities also announced in a letter to the president of the Islamic Republic on the first day of Mehr (September 23) that despite his statements and claims, no practical action has been taken for the return of dismissed professors to universities. The 'Shahrak Shargh' website also published a report on September 23 about six dismissed professors from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, who have each been teaching at prestigious universities around the world, stating that these dismissals are part of a broader trend to purify the higher education system and remove critical professors from universities, attempting to replace these professors with individuals aligned with the policies of the thirteenth government of the Islamic Republic. Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of the fourteenth government of the Islamic Republic, on September 29, asked Hossein Simayi Sarraf, the Minister of Science, to 'review all professors whose contracts were canceled or who were dismissed in any way and to return the students.' On Saturday, September 24, Minister Simayi Sarraf told reporters that he is in contact with the judiciary to return the protesting students and professors but 'I am not sure if the judiciary will review these cases again.'