Iran must reinstate all suspended or expelled students and faculty

Two years have passed since the Iranian protests that came to be known as the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after her arrest by the morality police for being inappropriately dressed.

Yet despite the election of a more moderate new president in July, the damage to the nation’s academic community that resulted from the government’s crackdowns against protesters remains largely unaddressed.

Students and faculty members played a central role in these protests, often at great personal cost. Many faced suspensions, dismissals and even arrests. But the new government’s promises to restore academic rights and freedoms are belied by the reality on the ground. The majority of the dismissed or suspended academics have not been reinstated, and in some cases, the crackdown on dissenting voices has only intensified.

One of the major issues that the academic community must hold the new government accountable for is the suspension and dismissal of faculty members. Local media recently reported that in the post-protest era, 25 professors have been dismissed from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad alone. Some have since secured positions at foreign universities, but it is unclear how many the new government has allowed to return to their previous posts. There are reports that only the select few whose cases garnered significant media attention have been reinstated. One example is Ali Sharifi Zarchi, who has returned to the Sharif University of Technology after a year of forced absence.

The situation for students is far worse and much less publicised. According to a recent report from the Global Student Forum (GSF), over 70,000 students participated in the protests, more than 800 were arrested or imprisoned, and close to 4,000 have faced disciplinary actions, including suspension and expulsion.

For instance, Tahmineh Mahdian, a sculpture student at Tehran University of Art, has been suspended for five consecutive semesters. Similarly, Yekta Mirzaei, a sociology student at the University of Tehran, was given a two-semester suspension for “disregarding Islamic dress code and disrespecting Islamic values”. These publicised examples are only the tip of the iceberg, as countless students continue to face restrictions, including being denied access to dormitories and other university services.

One of the most alarming factors in the repression of students has been the role of university security offices: all branches of a national agency known as Herasat. These opaque and unregulated bodies have gained a reputation for their involvement in the violent crackdown; incidents of students being beaten and verbally abused by Herasat staff have been widely reported, yet the regulations governing the organisation are not publicly available, and even the identities of its personnel are often concealed. Hence, it is nearly impossible for students to hold anyone accountable for violating their rights, and those who attempt to file complaints often find themselves facing charges of spreading false information.

The new government has made a few gestures that some view as signs of progress. One notable example is a recent directive issued by Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, the minister of health, treatment and medical education, calling for the suspension of all disciplinary actions initiated against medical students during the 2022-23 academic year. Many students and activists have welcomed this move, as it was implemented despite fierce resistance from conservative factions. There is now hope that the minister of science, research and technology may issue a similar directive regarding students in other disciplines.

However, more comprehensive reforms are required. First and foremost, all suspended or expelled students and faculty must be allowed to return. Beyond that, the government must confront the broader structural issues that have enabled bodies such as Herasat to operate without accountability and ensure that students have clear and accessible avenues to seek redress when their rights are violated.

The conditions for admitting students and hiring and retaining professors must also be made more transparent, fair and free from ideological interference. Conservative forces, both internal and external, currently exert their influence on universities in various ways and on multiple levels, including facilitating the entry of clergy into academia and applying political and ideological filters to the hiring of professors.

University presidents are appointed by the science or the health minister, but although they may, therefore, lean moderate if the country’s president is moderate, there are other entities within universities that can exert influence independently of the university administration, such as those overseen by the Supreme Leader or conservative organisations such as Basij, a paramilitary volunteer militia.

According to a recent statement from the minister of health, 70 per cent of medical school admissions at the University of Tehran have been filled through non-academic quotas, such as for ex-soldiers and close relatives of those killed in wars (martyrs). This leaves high-achieving students with no chance of admission. It is no wonder that many of Iran’s brightest minds are choosing to emigrate.

A university system that is transparent, merit-based and free from political manipulation is not only a benefit to students and faculty but also a prerequisite for Iran’s social and economic development. But while the government may continue to claim that academic freedoms and student rights are a priority, actions speak louder than words.

The new administration must go beyond short-term fixes and undertake long-term, systemic measures to rebuild trust within the academic community. This includes not only reversing punitive actions but also dismantling the opaque and unaccountable structures that have stifled intellectual freedom in Iran for so long.

Roohola Ramezani has a PhD in philosophy from Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran. He was formerly a research fellow at the IFK International Research Centre for Cultural Studies in Vienna.