Dozens of Academic Figures Abroad Protest the Dismissal of University Professors in Iran

Following the dismissal of several university professors in Iran, dozens of academic figures abroad issued a statement expressing solidarity with the Iranian academic community. In the statement, which was received by Voice of America on Tuesday, September 20, it is stated: "Iranian universities are witnessing a new wave of pressures, threats, various administrative punishments, dismissals, and early and forced retirements of professors who are considered critics, dissatisfied, and independent by the Islamic Republic." The statement highlights the dismissal of "dozens of university professors from their jobs" in just the past few months, emphasizing that "security measures and punishments against professors who are not aligned with the government is not a new phenomenon and began the day after the Cultural Revolution disaster of 1979 and the process known as the Islamization of higher education, continuing throughout the past 43 years." The academic figures emphasized that the Islamic Republic "turns to the university after every major political crisis" and increases the intensity of pressure and security measures against professors and students. The signatories of this statement pointed out the "resurgence of the suppression of professors and their replacement with ideological and affiliated individuals," underscoring the long-standing policy of the Islamic Republic to impose ideological oversight on universities. They added: "Since 1979, the Islamic government has never recognized the independence of universities and the academic freedom of professors and students, and the numerous interventions of political, religious, and security institutions have made the conventional and common university life in the current world impossible in Iran, with the fields of humanities and social sciences being more victims of these ideological and security pressures than other scientific areas." The statement emphasized that "the government's exclusionary and restrictive measures against professors and students have dire consequences for academic and scientific life," adding: "The main conflict of the government with the university is a struggle over the scientific independence of this institution, a battle over narratives of truth and their validation. Science is intertwined with power, and the government wants a submissive university, without academic freedom and without power." Figures such as Ervand Abrahamian, Touraj Atabaki, Janet Afary, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Saeed Pishvaei, Nira Tohidi, Ramin Jahanbegloo, Mehrdad Darvishpour, Kamyar and Arash Alaei, Kazem Alamdari, Mansour Farhang, Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Fatemeh Keshavarz, Abbas Milani, Azar Nafisi, and Farzaneh Milani signed this statement. The wave of dismissals of university professors who supported public protests following the killing of Mahsa Amini continues. Meanwhile, Mohammad Moein, the president of Tehran University, claimed that "the continuation of cooperation with some of these individuals has been prevented due to ethical issues and having a complainant, but in the media, they claim that their cooperation was cut off due to political issues." Additionally, the Jam-e Jam newspaper, the press organ of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, described the university as "a platform for training the opposition" and called on the government to more decisively dismiss "deviant" professors. The article also mentions the normalization of professors' dismissals in government media, asserting that the dismissals are not political but rather aimed at creating tension.