Suspended Professor of Fine Arts: My Salary Was Cut Without Legal Order

Azin Mohadd, a 'suspended' professor at the Fine Arts Faculty of Tehran University and holder of a postdoctoral degree in music from Harvard University, has reported the 'cutting of his salary' without a legal order. Mohadd was among the professors who supported student protests last year. He stated that the Islamic Republic government has blocked the salary of a professor who has been 'the weight of music in fine arts for 30 years.' Mohadd told 'Khabar Online': 'I was not an ordinary professor in fine arts; I was a servant of fine arts and have worked hard for the music group in fine arts for 30 years with extraordinary efforts.' Regarding when he was informed of his suspension, he mentioned that the suspension was recently announced, but since Azar 1401 (December 2022), he has been deprived of his salary because he 'supported students during last year's university events.' Azin Mohadd, a music instructor and faculty member at Tehran University, has been suspended from teaching at the university, although he claims this suspension was 'under the radar' since he had not been paid since Azar 1401 and only since Khordad this year has the issue of his suspension been raised. He has been a faculty member of the Fine Arts Faculty of Tehran University since 1993. He has also been a visiting professor at Portland University and Ionian University in Greece and has performed concerts worldwide with his specialized instrument, the flute. This music instructor at the Fine Arts Faculty of Tehran University further added that during last year's events, the atmosphere at Tehran University 'was not at all like an environment for learning,' and he stated, 'As long as the security of students at the university is not established, I cannot teach in classes.' Azin Mohadd emphasized that if there were proper management at the university, they would not allow a group to invade Tehran University and beat each other; my protest was also about how the presidency and security of Tehran University were unable to prevent these attacks. Azin Mohadd obtained his PhD in music with a specialization in 'performance and performing arts' from the University of Illinois, then conducted his postdoctoral research in 'performance sciences' at Harvard University, and after teaching at the University of Illinois and California State University for a while, returned to Iran. During the nationwide protests last year, which peaked after the death of Mahsa Amini in custody, many students and some university professors also joined the protesters and did not attend classes in protest against the repression in the streets. Following reactions to the elimination of the cinema and sculpture program at Tehran University, an official stated: 'It was a mistake; it will be corrected.' The widespread expulsion of university professors continues; the decline in the global ranking of universities and a new wave of migration. A Sharif University professor called the covert recruitment of fifteen thousand professors aligned with the government a 'disaster.'