A Sharif University Professor Calls the Covert Recruitment of Fifteen Thousand Pro-Government Professors a 'Disaster'

In an ongoing effort by the Islamic Republic to homogenize the atmosphere of the country's universities, a university professor reported the covert recruitment of fifteen thousand 'aligned faculty members' with the regime. Ali Sharifi Zarchi, a professor at Sharif University, mentioned on X (formerly Twitter) that the hiring process for these professors has begun in a quota-based, urgent manner and outside of scientific frameworks, referencing the publication of a government document. This university professor described the event as a 'disaster' and deemed the silence of the academic community on this matter as 'treason to Iran.' Ali Sharifi Zarchi, a faculty member in bioinformatics and artificial intelligence at Sharif University, was among the professors summoned by security agents last year following his support for protesting students. In recent years, critical or non-aligned professors have consistently faced security pressures, dismissals, suspensions, or forced retirements. Student guild councils across the country have recently reported severe pressures on several professors at universities in Kerman, Beheshti, Tabatabai, Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad, evaluating it as part of a 'purge of professors alongside students.' This guild council reported on Friday, August 18, the latest example of 'repression' of professors, announcing the dismissal of Mehdi Khoyi, a sociology professor at Tabatabai University. In response to this news, the student scientific association of sociology at Tabatabai University issued a statement criticizing the dismissal of Mehdi Khoyi and simultaneously condemned the 'occupation' of university faculty positions by 'rent-seeking and unqualified' professors.