Growing Protests Against the Dismissal of Professors, with Regime’s President Ebrahim Raisi, Interior Minister Vahidi, and Other Leaders Defending These Repressive Measures

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi: In its final phase, the regime will not attain its objectives by cracking down on students and purging academics and university faculty; it cannot prevent the uprising or shield itself from enraged Iranian youth

The simultaneous dismissal of university professors along with the arrest, expulsion, and intimidation of students, coupled with other repressive and security measures within universities on the eve of the academic year’s commencement and the anniversary of the 2022 uprising, demonstrates the mullahs’ regime’s apprehension regarding the potential for an uprising and exposes the regime’s vulnerability in the face of university campuses.

In recent months, a significant number of university professors from universities such as Sharif, Tehran, Allameh, Melli, Azad Tehran, Azad Karaj, Al-Zahra, Kurdistan, Persian Gulf, Ferdowsi Mashhad, Art, Sureh, Tabriz Medical Sciences, Hakim Sabzevari, Bahoner Kerman, Jahrom, Azad Sanandaj, Medical Sciences of Iran, Azad Qom, and Isfahan have been expelled. According to students, security agencies play a central role in all university-related decisions, and repressive forces have surrounded the campuses.

Amidst this repressive purge, which has sparked numerous protests, the regime’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, attempted to justify these actions today. According to a report on August 29 by the regime’s television, Raisi stated, “If a few individuals intend to violate the law, the university itself must not permit it… Today, there are those who seek to enter a university with the intent of disrupting its order. Well, universities operate within a framework. …Undoubtedly, concerning universities, the importance of adhering to the law and upholding discipline should consistently be highlighted. Those responsible for maintaining this discipline within the university include esteemed professors, dear students, administrators, and those engaged in university affairs. Over the past two or three days, I have been made aware of certain instances. These are cases in which individuals have committed infractions and have been addressed by disciplinary committees. I have urged them to carry out necessary follow-ups, and we will also review these matters.”

The purging and expelling professors is carried out by the directive of Ali Khamenei, the regime’s supreme leader. In recently exposed confidential documents from the presidency, there’s a document dated January 10, 2023, in which Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior, sent a letter to Raisi titled “notes on the necessity of adopting a special approach in recruiting faculty members and the 5-item ratifications of the Security Council meeting.” In this document, Vahidi wrote: “Through recent disturbances, we have learned the following: Certain professors have played a provocative role in inciting protest actions, students’ disrupting structures, and participating in university riots, which has been the central cause of the crisis. In universities where dedicated and revolutionary professors were present, even if they were few, effective management was achieved. However, in most universities, where the network of faculty members was not aligned with the system or, at best, a significant number were indifferent, this has led to significant disruption.”

The fifth section of this document outlines the 5- item ratifications by the country’s security council regarding the oversight of academic faculties within universities: “5-1 – Special hiring authority (by allocating employment code) to recruit 5,000 academic faculty members by the Ministry of Health, and 10,000 individuals by the Ministry of Science should be considered before the end of the current government’s term.” The objective is to place a number of IRGC and Basij members under the guise of professors within the universities.

Today, regarding the dismissal of professors, the Ministry of Interior, in a statement announced that the action: “has completely been based on legal and administrative standards, and of course, the revolutionary duty of this ministry for the scientific and cultural dynamics of universities, which deserves praise.”

On August 28, the state-run website Roydad 24 reported that Mardani, the head of the Basij organization of Professors, also commented on this matter: “In recent days, we have witnessed a false exaggeration regarding the dismissal of professors. This matter pertains to the termination of contracts for a small number of faculty members who, due to their lack of scholarly advancement, have not met the criteria for attaining a higher academic rank. As per the law, their exclusion is warranted.”

On August 28, Hossein Shariatmadar, Khamenei’s representative in Kayhan, wrote: “A number of university faculty members who not only endorsed the riots and rioters during the disturbances last autumn but in certain cases also collaborated with the hooligans and criminals among the rioters in perpetrating offenses against the defenseless people, have been dismissed from the university. This represents the least and most minor form of retribution for their reprehensible and inhumane conduct.”

As per the report from the regime’s television, prior to this incident, Hossein Salami, the commander of the IRGC, addressed a gathering of Basij commanders on August 1st, stating: “The enemy undoubtedly aims to provoke turmoil once more on the anniversary of the past disturbances…support universities and Student Basij… intrusion occurs through a small opening; at times, a substantial barrier can be breached by a minor fissure. Expand intelligence activities; Identify the leaders of these currents; Contain their activities; and keep your bases proactive.”

On August 28, the state-run Etemad website wrote: “In the next phase, the focus of these purges will extend to students,” Ebrahim Raisi’s gang, known as the Paydari Front “aims to alter the university admissions process based on political and religious criteria, following the extensive professorial purge. The primary instrument for implementing this in the current year is the university disciplinary committees. In subsequent years, as the evaluation organization is transferred to a subcommittee of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, distinct quotas will essentially govern student admissions. Presently, various quotas exist in university entrance exams, including quotas for veterans, regional quotas, 25% quotas for veterans, 5% quotas for disabled, and quotas for veterans’ children. With the expansion of these quotas, the possibility of fair competition in the entrance exams diminishes, ultimately transforming higher education in Iran into a system of appointments.”

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that the mullahs’ inhuman regime in its final phase,will not attain its objectives by cracking down on students and purging academics and university faculty. Their efforts to stifle uprisings by widespread arrests cannot shield them from enraged Iranian youth and students. She urged unions and syndicates of students, professors, and intellectuals worldwide, to condemn the regime’s repressive actions targeting universities and to stand in solidarity with Iranian students and professors.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
August 29, 2023