Rafsanjani Warns Against Targeting University Professors

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Azad University of Iran, urged the university administrators not to allow the academic environment to be engulfed by "fear, terror, and taqiya (dissimulation)." He emphasized that university managers do not have the right to create cases against professors "due to research discussions." According to the state news agency IRNA, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani stated on Tuesday, January 6, that "it is now clear to the whole world that wherever science wants to progress and research is pursued seriously, this happens in an atmosphere of free thought." He added that if individuals do not have the courage to express their research, this is not free thought, and he remarked: "The issue of free thought is not a religious matter, as some think it is a liberal space." Addressing the managers of Azad University, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani said: "Try to ensure that the university environment is one of research and do not let this space, which is meant for education and the development of thoughtful individuals, be caught up in fear, terror, and taqiya." One of the announced programs by the Ministry of Science officials in Hassan Rouhani's government is the return of expelled professors and students deprived of education during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency to universities. Since Ahmadinejad's presidency in 2005, a new wave of expulsions of university professors began in Iran, and reports indicate that many professors who criticized the government were expelled or forced into "premature" retirement. In this context, the return of expelled professors to universities was one of the reasons for the impeachment and dismissal of Reza Faraji Dana, the former Minister of Science, during a session of the Iranian Parliament on August 20. Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, criticized what he called "the flawed process of premature retirement of professors" and stated: "It should not be that a professor is not free to express his opinions in class." On Wednesday, February 4, 2014, Mr. Rouhani also criticized the silence of academics regarding the Geneva nuclear agreement, saying: "Why should a few ill-educated individuals who receive money from specific sectors speak, while our great scholars, academics, and professors remain silent?" Meanwhile, in recent weeks, media close to conservatives and some members of Parliament have severely criticized Ahmad Shirzad, Sadegh Zibakalam, and Davood Hermidas Bavand, three professors critical of Iran's nuclear program. These three university professors explicitly opposed Iran's nuclear program at a seminar held in Tehran on Wednesday, December 17. "We do not see serious practical results for unity at the level of Islamic communities," the head of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran said at the beginning of his remarks, referring to the Unity Week. He noted that every year a large number of the Islamic world gather in Tehran and discuss issues, but still do not see serious practical results for unity among Islamic communities. He urged Sunni and Shia scholars not to "create division" and stated that university scholars have a duty to restore the "damaged unity" in the Islamic world. Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani added that the Islamic world today faces its worst situation in history, stating: "In the Islamic world today, divisions have increased, and groups calling themselves Takfiris consider others infidels and pursue the slaughter of Muslims." He emphasized: "We are afflicted by the calamity of division from both the West and the East, to the extent that governments do not dare to take action." On Friday, January 1, he also mentioned "lies, oppression, and unjust imprisonment" as factors of "division" among Muslims and stated that "for 30 years we have been talking about unity, but we have not acted."