Over 50 Iranian Professors Abroad Demand the Release of Detained Students

More than 50 Iranian professors from universities abroad issued a statement in response to recent events in Iran, protesting the detention of dozens of students and calling for their unconditional release. The letter, a copy of which was received by Radio Farda on Tuesday, January 9, states that 'the arrest of these students is part of a crackdown on popular protests demanding improvements in social, economic conditions, and the right to political participation.' Reports citing Iranian parliamentary representatives indicate that the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has detained about 90 students in recent days, claiming these arrests were preventive measures to avert crime. However, the signatories of this statement characterized the actions of the Ministry of Intelligence under President Hassan Rouhani as 'kidnapping' students and deemed it 'illegal.' The number of signatories is 52, including professors from North American and European universities, such as Ervand Abrahamian, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Kousha Parsi, Saeed Pishvaei, Nira Tohidi, Farhad Khosrokhavar, Mohammad Tavakoli Targhi, and Kazem Alamdar. The statement reads: 'We, a group of Iranian academics abroad, express our concern for the safety of Iranian students and the dignity of Iranian universities, condemn the illegal detention of these students, and demand their immediate and unconditional release.' Other signatories include Mehrdad Darvishpour, Jalil Roshandel, Mansour Farhang, Kazem Kordvani, Ali Akbar Mahdi, Fereshteh Molavi, Ali Mirsepassi, Abbas Milani, Mehrak Kamali, Fatemeh Shams, Parvaneh Hosseini, Elaheh Amani, and Payam Akhavan. Previously, lawyers and legal experts such as Nasrin Sotoudeh had deemed 'preventive detention' as 'illegal' and contrary to several principles of the Iranian constitution. Meanwhile, 37 student organizations sent a letter to Mansour Gholami, the Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, demanding follow-up on the situation of detained students and their unconditional release. This comes as Bahram Parsai, spokesperson for the Hope faction in Parliament, quoted the Minister of Intelligence stating that 'many students have been released so far, and the rest will be released soon.' During the protests in Iran, which lasted about a week and featured strong slogans against the leaders and domestic and regional policies of the Islamic Republic, over 3,700 people were detained, and at least 22 deaths have been confirmed.