Administrative Justice Court Confirms Expulsion of Mohammad Hossein Sepehri from Education System

The 25th Appeals Branch of the Administrative Justice Court of the Islamic Republic rejected the appeal of Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, a imprisoned teacher, and confirmed his expulsion from the education system. According to a document shared by Asghar Sepehri, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri's brother, on the social media platform X on Sunday, October 1, Ali Akbar Rashidi, the head of the 25th Appeals Branch, dismissed the imprisoned teacher's objection to his expulsion after 26 years of teaching. The ruling issued by the 25th Branch, signed by the head of the branch Ali Akbar Rashidi and advisor Mohammad Esmaeili, emphasized that "the ruling is final." Based on the published ruling, this decision was made according to a "report from the Intelligence Organization of the IRGC in Khorasan Razavi Province" and refers to "three instances of administrative convictions or similar violations," the specifics of which are unclear. Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, a veteran high school physics teacher, civil activist, and one of the signatories of the well-known "14 Statement" calling for the resignation of Ali Khamenei and a transition from the Islamic Republic, is currently imprisoned in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. Sepehri, who in previous years signed a statement with several civil and political activists calling for the resignation of the Supreme Leader and a peaceful transition from the current government in Iran, had his sister Fatemeh Sepehri as one of the signatories of a similar statement signed by 14 women activists. In recent days, Fatemeh Sepehri, a political prisoner in Mashhad, addressed Masoud Pezeshkian, stating that "you have already put your hands in the pockets of the plundered people of Iran," announcing that her brother Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, with 26 years of experience teaching physics in high school, has been expelled from the education system and sent to prison. Additionally, "his family, who were tenants in an endowment property, have been forced to vacate their home by the Endowment and Charity Affairs Organization and by court order, even after paying rent on time and in full to earn complete rewards for the benefactors' souls." Sepehri, who had previously spent years in prison due to his signature on that statement and peaceful civil and political activities, was last arrested in October of last year after following the health status of his sister Fatemeh Sepehri, who had been transferred from Vakilabad Prison to Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad for emergency heart surgery. Sepehri stated in a video message in Shahrivar 1402 that he is moving with "non-violence" on the "path of patriotism" and that they want to place him in a "dilemma between maintaining his job" and "adhering to his beliefs" through "illegal case-making." This teacher and civil activist reported that after receiving an accusation from the initial violations committee of the Khorasan Razavi Education Department, he approached this committee and spoke with Abbas Zafari, its head, explaining that the head of the initial violations committee "had no explanation other than that this case was prepared by an entity outside the education system and sent to them" and that "they did not know the details of the case precisely." Sepehri also emphasized in his defense, "I explicitly said that your procedure is not legally logical for me to provide you with reasons. Your procedure is one of servitude, and you want to place me in a dilemma, but I am moving on the path of patriotism with non-violence." The finalization of Mohammad Hossein Sepehri's expulsion after 26 years of teaching comes at a time when Masoud Pezeshkian, the head of the fourteenth government of the Islamic Republic, claimed in recent days that he seeks to review the status of expelled professors and annul contracts issued against students; meanwhile, Mohammad Habibi, a teachers' union activist, emphasized in response to his statements that over 330 teachers have been expelled in the past two years, and thousands of other teachers have received other disciplinary rulings.