Wave of Protests Against the Dismissal of Professors; Sharif University President Claims It Was a 'Legal' Action

As protests against the dismissal of protesting professors from Iranian universities continue, the president of Sharif University of Technology claimed that the 'termination of collaboration' with a faculty member was 'legal, is legal, and will be legal.' According to a report on Wednesday, September 13, by the 'Iran Watch' website, Rasool Jalili, president of Sharif University, referred to the reactions to the dismissals as 'media pressure' and 'chaos' and stated, 'We are not afraid,' asserting that this process will not be influenced by the protests. He also emphasized the university's 'increased seriousness in dealing with disciplinary issues,' claiming that 'a lot of time was spent' on the dismissal of Ali Sharifi Zarchi, the dismissed professor. After his dismissal, Ali Sharifi Zarchi announced on the social media platform 'X' (formerly Twitter) that he had been elected as the head of the scientific committee for the International Olympiad in Informatics. In previous days, Mohammad Moqimi, the president of Tehran University, claimed that the dismissal of 'some of these individuals' was due to 'ethical issues and having complainants.' Following the dismissal of several professors in Iran, dozens of academic figures abroad expressed solidarity with the Iranian academic community, emphasizing that they are witnessing a new wave of pressures, threats, various administrative punishments, dismissals, and forced early retirements of professors who are considered critics, dissatisfied, and independent by the Islamic Republic. According to them, 'The Islamic government has never recognized the independence of universities and the academic freedom of professors and students since 1979, and the numerous interventions by political, religious, and security institutions have made normal academic life impossible in Iran, with the fields of humanities and social sciences being more victims of these ideological and security pressures.' Additionally, Mojtaba Hashemi, a former member of the Central Council of the Islamic Association of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Tehran University, told Voice of America that the Islamic Republic has moved from suppressing students and professors to replacing institutions in universities that can counter protests. He also emphasized that the conditions are not like those in the 1980s when the Islamic Republic could repeat the Cultural Revolution. Jinoos Taghizadeh, a multimedia artist, emphasized that the Islamic Republic's efforts to 'militarize universities' have been ongoing for years, stating that brilliant professors were eliminated after the Cultural Revolution, and this wave has been repeated in various periods. He noted that the current wave of protests against the dismissal of professors is new and 'very promising.'