Resignation of Academy of Sciences Secretary in Protest Against 'Interference' of Supreme Cultural Revolution Council

News sources in Iran have reported the resignation of the 'Secretary of the Academy of Sciences' due to what has been termed 'interference' by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council of the Islamic Republic. Based on an image released of the resignation letter from Reza Faraji-Dana, the Secretary of the Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic, this letter was written on September 21 and addressed to the General Assembly of the Academy. In part of the resignation text, Faraji-Dana refers to the 'interference' of the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council in the 'appointment of certain individuals to permanent membership' of this Academy without 'consultation and vote' from the General Assembly, deeming such an action a 'historical innovation.' Faraji-Dana, a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tehran and former Minister of Science, Research, and Technology in the previous government of the Islamic Republic, has eleven years of membership in the Academy of Sciences and has served as its Secretary for the past twenty months. The 'Supreme Cultural Revolution Council' is a non-legal institution under the supervision of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, which includes some members of the government and the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The activities of this governmental body have been seriously criticized by cultural, artistic, and academic figures since its establishment during the era of the previous leader of the Islamic Republic. The Supreme Cultural Revolution Council of the Islamic Republic, whose resolutions are considered 'law' according to the interpretation of the Guardian Council, has been accused of widespread dismissals of professors and the deprivation of many students in the 1980s, extensive ideological changes in educational fields during the 1990s, and extensive interference in cultural sectors in recent decades. Many sections of the 'Chastity and Hijab' bill, which has sparked numerous reactions in recent months, are resolutions that this council has drafted and issued in recent years.