Letter from Dismissed Professors to Pezeshkian; No Effective Action Taken for Their Return

On the first day of the new academic year in Iran, a group of dismissed or suspended professors from universities wrote a letter to Massoud Pezeshkian, the President, stating that despite his remarks about the return of dismissed professors to universities, no "effective action has been taken in this regard." Twelve dismissed or suspended professors asked in the letter published on Sunday, October 1: "Is there a real will in this matter, or is the return of a few individuals merely intended for propaganda purposes?" Massoud Pezeshkian and his first deputy, Mohammad Reza Aref, have promised several times in recent weeks and months that dismissed professors and students would be allowed to return to universities, but Hossein Simayi Sarraf, the Minister of Science, said on September 25 that the President's and his deputy's order was merely "to give another opportunity to review the complaints of students and professors regarding their dismissal and suspension status." The twelve professors and university faculty members stated in their letter that "there is still no clear mechanism announced regarding the return of dismissed professors to universities" and addressed Massoud Pezeshkian, saying: "The existing signs and evidence indicate obstacles that hinder the return of these individuals to universities." Morteza Nemat, Hassan Bagherinia, Abolfazl Shayan, Behrouz Chamranara, Ameneh Aali, and Javad Emami are some of the signatories of this letter. In their letter, these university professors referred to "laws and regulations that violate academic freedom, which have been approved in recent years" and stated that "the hands of non-university authoritarian institutions have been left free to suppress professors." They wrote: "What is presented under the title of 'legality' regarding the dismissal of professors is the product of this unhealthy and irresponsible quasi-legal mechanism." Hamideh Sadat Khademi, Ahmad Rahimi, Abolghasem Rahimi, Zahra Khushkjan, Mohammad Soltani Renani, and Mahshid Goohari Kakhki are some other authors of this letter. The website of the newspaper Shargh published the letter of these twelve professors along with statements from five former professors of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, who were dismissed, suspended, or forced to resign during Ebrahim Raisi's government. There are no accurate statistics on the number of professors who have been dismissed, suspended, or forcibly retired from universities in recent years due to political or ideological reasons or non-alignment with Ebrahim Raisi's government. About ten days ago, Arash Bidollahkhani, a dismissed professor from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, told the website Entekhab that 25 professors were dismissed from this university alone. The severe government crackdown and the risk of protests going 'underground' are evident in the accounts of doctors and eyewitnesses regarding the injured from the protests.