An Iranian MP: 15,000 to 20,000 School Managers Dismissed for Political and Ideological Reasons

An Iranian MP criticized the widespread dismissal, suspension, and removal of school managers, stating that 'purification' continues strongly in this period, from universities to education and executive bodies. According to a report published by the Iran Watch website on Sunday, November 7, Jala Mahmoudzadeh, a Sunni representative from Mahabad in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, said: 'Based on the statistics we have received since the appointment of Sahraei, the Minister of Education, 15,000 to 20,000 school managers have been dismissed for political and ideological reasons.' He stated that the trend of dismissing non-aligned professors from universities is also ongoing, adding: 'In other executive bodies, if they suspect that a manager is not aligned with the ruling current or government ideologically or politically, they are immediately dismissed.' Student guild councils in the country expressed concern in October this year about the continuation of the 'purification process of universities from non-aligned professors' with the government, highlighting the rapid suspension of professors supporting protesting students. Mohsen Barahani, a suspended professor at Tehran University, also stated that the government of Ebrahim Raisi had been planning to restrict universities and dismiss professors days before the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police and the beginning of nationwide protests. This law professor told the Etemad newspaper on October 5 that a month after Raisi's government took office, a directive to deal with critical professors was issued. In recent months, following nationwide protests that also occurred in Iranian universities, the Islamic Republic has been purging non-aligned professors and removing supporters of protests from universities. Previously, dozens of academic figures abroad protested the dismissal of professors, considering this action by the Islamic Republic as a continuation of four decades of pressure and repression in educational environments in Iran. The Etemad newspaper previously reported that thousands of professors had been dismissed from Azad University in the new academic year, noting that 'first or second semester doctoral students' had replaced them. Additionally, see: The dismissal of 32,000 adjunct professors from Azad University; 20,000 doctoral students were replaced. Jinous Taghizadeh, a multimedia artist, emphasized in an interview with VOA that the Islamic Republic's efforts to 'militarize universities' have been ongoing for years, stating that brilliant professors were removed after the cultural revolution, and this wave has been repeated in various periods.