State-run Iranian regime media have reported a continuing series of dismissals of professors, with over 25 professors dismissed from the University of Tehran within the past two years. Most of these individuals are academics or activists in the humanities field.
In a report, the ‘Khabar Online’ website addressed this issue, noting that these dismissals persist even amid the academic year.
In one of the latest instances, Ahmad Shekarchi, a sociology professor at Shahid Beheshti University, published a letter announcing the non-renewal of his contract and subsequent dismissal on January 31st by the executive board of Beheshti University.
Similarly, Mohsen Khalili, a professor at Ferdowsi University, announced his dismissal on January 29th after 18 years of teaching at the institution.
‘Khaber Online’ emphasized that other cases have surfaced in recent months, indicating that the process of firing professors continues discreetly.
Reports reveal that Tehran University and Tehran University of Medical Sciences have seen 26 dismissals, Allameh University 5 dismissals, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad 6 dismissals, Azad University 14 dismissals, Babol Medical Sciences 2 dismissals, Iran Medical Sciences 3 dismissals, while Hakim Sabzevari, Tarbiat Modares, Kermanshah, Mazandaran, Shiraz, Gilan, and Sharif Medical Sciences Universities each recorded one dismissal over the past two years. The dismissals of professors are being justified by regime officials and media outlets.
‘Jam-Jam’ newspaper has supported these dismissals, characterizing universities as breeding grounds for ‘opposition’. It has advocated for the continuation of ‘purifications’ and urged regime officials to decisively dismiss ‘deviant’ professors.
On the same day, the president of Tehran University claimed that the termination of cooperation with professors was due to ‘moral problems’, not political issues.
Mohammad Moghimi, the president of Tehran University, stated: ‘I am fully aware that the continuation of cooperation with some of these individuals has been halted due to moral issues and complaints, but in the media, they allege that their termination was politically motivated.’
In recent months, alongside the dismissal of professors, there have been reports of the recruitment of regime-affiliated figures as university professors, including Saeed Haddadian, a eulogist close to the regime’s supreme leader’s office, Sajjad Safar Harandi, son of Mohammad Hossein Safar Harandi, former editor of Kayhan and former minister of the regime’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Amir Hossein Sabeti, a moderator of the ‘Ofoq’ TV channel, and Abbas Mozoun, another TV moderator.
The wave of dismissals intensified after the nationwide protests of 2022, triggered by the killing of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the regime’s morality police and the active involvement of students, accompanied by professors, in the protests.
While the regime shows little regard for the country’s future, these actions are not unprecedented.
Shortly after the 1979 revolution, under the order of the then-regime supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini, universities across the country were closed for three years, resulting in the dismissal of many students and professors.
It is now evident that such actions will only contribute to the decline of the country’s scientific institutions, which currently suffer from the regime’s inefficiency.
