Scholarship Students in Open Letter: Let Us Speak the 'Untold Stories'

Tasnim News Agency has reported that a group of scholarship students has written an open letter to Mohammad Sarafraz, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), stating their willingness to collaborate with IRIB to 'enlighten public opinion and clarify' issues through programs, debates, interviews, or documentaries. In their letter, the students referenced Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks criticizing the media coverage of hundreds of illegal scholarship cases during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, adding that the 'completely political game of scholarships' has destroyed many lives, tarnished the reputation of thousands, and left many of them 'aged and depressed.' These scholarship students, who received government scholarships for advanced studies between 2009 and 2013 during Ahmadinejad's administration, have been accused by the Ministry of Science under Hassan Rouhani's government of receiving scholarships 'without examination and competition with domestic doctoral applicants.' In another part of their open letter to the head of IRIB, they emphasized that many among them have many untold stories and stated that these narratives could provide a 'comprehensive and detailed interpretation' of the Supreme Leader's remarks regarding the injustice faced by scholarship students. Ayatollah Khamenei, in a meeting with a group of university professors on July 4 in Tehran, stated: 'There should be no political games, no political maneuvering, no creating of margins. [...] One of the most erroneous actions that occurred in the last couple of years was this issue of scholarships. Even if it were true [...] the way to address it was not to make it a media issue. A number of people obtained an advantage contrary to the law; very well, there is a legal way: revoke that advantage, it doesn't make noise. Creating a scandal, creating margins is [...] Besides the fact that injustice was done - many were wronged - this action was also illegal, against prudence, and against ethics.' Previously, Reza Alijani, a national-religious activist in Paris, had stated in an interview with Radio Farda that the Supreme Leader's remarks were evidence of the regime's will to align the university with the ruling power's policies: 'This indicates that, in [Ayatollah Khamenei's] view, the university should be captured by Hezbollah and Basij forces, and this was something that happened during Ahmadinejad's administration - which he closely aligned himself with - where meritocracy was not important, only alignment with power was.' About a year ago, the head of the Student Affairs Organization reported the 'cost of 600 million to 1 billion tomans' for each scholarship student. The unofficial publication of the names of some of these students on social media, the sensitivity of the current predominantly conservative parliament, the impeachment of Reza Faraji Dana, the former Minister of Science, and the recent remarks of the Supreme Leader are just parts of the controversial scholarship saga of Ahmadinejad's government. Now, if IRIB agrees to the scholarship students' request to provide explanations and express their 'untold stories,' a new chapter in this lengthy and controversial file should be anticipated.