The Policy of 'Uniformity in Higher Education' in the Islamic Republic; 157 Professors Have Been Dismissed in the Past 18 Years

On Thursday, September 9, the Tehran-based newspaper Etemad reported on the recent dismissal of dozens of university professors just three weeks before the start of the academic year, noting that the exact number is still unclear. The newspaper referred to these dismissals as a policy of 'uniformity in higher education.' According to reports, professors including Mohsen Barahani, Daryoush Rahmanian, Azin Mohadd, Hossein Alayi, Ali Sharifi-Zarchi, Ameneh Aali, Hamideh Khademi, Reza Salehi-Amiri, Roham Afghani-Khorasani, and Mohammad-Reza Nazari-Nejad, among others, have received verbal or written prohibitions from teaching or have been dismissed. Etemad's report described the situation as 'bitter days' for over 150 universities in Iran, adding that 'the uniformity of higher education is a project that is being pursued vigorously by the thirteenth government, and this cabinet has no intention of a ceasefire unlike its counterparts in the ninth and tenth governments.' The report did not mention the number of professors who were dismissed after the 1979 revolution and following the 1979 Cultural Revolution in Iranian universities. Etemad noted that 157 professors have been dismissed, suspended, or forced into retirement during the administrations of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hassan Rouhani, and Ebrahim Raisi, mentioning names such as Mohammad-Javad Haqshenas, Mohammad Kianoush-Rad, Davood Soleimani, and Elham Fakhari. The newspaper added that other professors have reported to them that they were dismissed under 'pretexts such as academic stagnation, scientific misconduct, termination of cooperation contracts, failure to change their educational status, non-confirmation of qualifications for continued membership in the university faculty, by order of university officials, forced retirement, or buyout of service.' Etemad wrote that some professors attributed their removal from the higher education system to 'criticizing the political, economic, and social performance of the thirteenth cabinet, supporting students and protesting citizens through signing protest statements, temporarily suspending classes in solidarity with protesters, demanding freedom of expression, and asserting civil rights following last autumn's events and the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police.' However, officials from the Ministry of Science and university presidents have cited other reasons for the dismissal of these professors. In this regard, Mohammad Khalaj Amirhosseini, head of the faculty recruitment center at the Ministry of Science, told ILNA that 'in some cases, the reason for not renewing contracts, particularly for contractual professors, is academic stagnation.' He stated, 'According to the law, every contractual professor must be able to create the necessary conditions for their status change within a maximum of five years, and if this status change is not proven for the university, the professor cannot continue their contract according to the law, and the continuation of such a professor's contract may be detrimental to students and universities.' Previously, Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi, president of Azad University, mentioned in an interview with ILNA on September 4 that 'some work for years and when they reach retirement age, they only tell half the story regarding the end of their activities.' He added, 'To ensure that young people also come to work and to maintain a vibrant faculty flow, we must benefit from young people.' Meanwhile, some government-affiliated forces have replaced the dismissed professors under the title of 'professor.' A letter has also been published indicating that 15,000 individuals are to be recruited into university faculties; a letter that has sparked widespread criticism on social media, including from government critics. In this context, the 'Trade Union of University Professors of Iran' issued a statement on Sunday, September 5, warning against the 'destructive interference' of government, security, and intelligence institutions of the Islamic Republic in the field of education and universities. Additionally, the website 'Modara' reported on September 5 that 'Sajad Safar Herandi, son of Mohammad Hossein Safar Herandi, the Minister of Culture in Ahmadinejad's government, has become a professor at Sharif University of Technology.' Before him, Amir Hossein Sabati, a presenter for the government-run OFOGH television network and a member of the Stability Front, had also gained a professorship at Iran's most prestigious technical university. These two are set to teach 'Islamic Revolution' courses. The dismissal of professors after the February 1979 revolution was also mentioned, with the website Rouydad 24 reporting that following the 'Cultural Revolution of 1979 to 1982 and the establishment of the Cultural Revolution Headquarters, which later became the extra-legal Cultural Revolution Council (which itself was a clear violation of the separation of powers and accountability principle), Marxist professors and opponents of the revolution were removed, and the duality of principlists and reformists was still able to sit at the same table.' Abolhasan Riazi, former deputy of the Student Affairs Organization, told Rouydad 24 that 'the political management of universities is not related to governments. Since the Cultural Revolution, universities have always been subject to political purges, and this has only varied in intensity and weakness across different governments.' He believes that 'what is currently happening is similar to events in 1359 and the Cultural Revolution, and it seems that a significant number of professors are set to leave and a significant number of new professors will be replaced.' The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center previously reported in February 2012 that after the closure of Iranian universities in the spring of 1359, 'hundreds of professors and students who were said to be in conflict with the criteria and values of the Iranian revolution' were dismissed. This center mentioned Baha'is who were denied the opportunity to study and teach at Iranian universities, and many of them were forced to emigrate or flee Iran. The report noted that 'concerns about the influence of leftist groups and professors who were supporters of the Shah's regime led to the idea of a prolonged closure of Iranian universities being raised at high levels of the Iranian government as early as summer 1358.' In this context, Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, stated in a New Year's message on the first of Farvardin 1359, 'A fundamental revolution must occur in all universities across Iran so that professors who are connected with the East or the West are purged, and the university becomes a healthy environment for teaching advanced Islamic sciences.' About a month after this message, universities across Iran became the scene of clashes between Islamists on one side and leftist student groups on the other, marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution and subsequently the 'Islamization' of the higher education system. Khomeini stated on the 29th of Farvardin of the same year in another message, 'We fear the education of our youth in the interests of the East and West.' In this regard, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center cited the words of Abdolkarim Soroush, a member of the Cultural Revolution Headquarters at the time, who said, 'In total, about 700 out of 12,000 university professors were cleansed.' Nevertheless, according to this center, by the academic year 63-62, which was the first full year of university activity after the reopening following the 'Cultural Revolution' desired by the Islamic Republic, the number of assistant professors and associate professors had decreased from about 17,000 in 1359 to about 9,000. Meanwhile, news and media reports indicate that the Islamic Republic has not succeeded in eliminating critics and opponents over its more than four decades of existence. The intensification of the dismissal of opposing and critical professors and students of the Islamic Republic continues.