Iranian academic year could start online amid protests crackdown

Iranian universities could be compelled to start their academic year online, amid government fears of renewed protests during the one-year anniversary of a young Iranian woman’s death next month, according to reports. 

Mahsa Amini, who was 22 years old, died in custody on 16 September 2022 after allegedly failing to wear her hijab properly. For many, it was the final straw of years of government repression. The news sparked nationwide protests – with university students leading the charge – that many people believed could topple the country’s extremist regime.

While protests have since simmered down, they have had a lasting toll on academia, with numerous students expelled and the few academics who have taken a stand forced into exile or out of their jobs, even as Iran’s economy has tumbled.

Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, a US-based non-profit organisation, said he hadn’t heard about the plans to begin the coming semester in distance mode, but that such a move would fit with the broader pattern of crackdowns.

“It would not surprise me if the government is considering such a step, as even when there is a hint of unrest, the authorities throttle the internet,” he said.

Encieh Erfani, who last autumn resigned in solidarity with the protests, giving up her post an assistant professor of physics at Zanjan’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, said she had heard rumours of an online start to the semester. Still, she pointed out the irony of the decision, noting that online learning would fail to work if, as on previous occasions, the government shut down the internet.

“If the protests start on the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini [on] 16 September, most probably the internet will be blocked as happened before several times, so having online classes will make no sense,” she noted.

Even so, she said that the government reaction to protests was more important than temporary disruptions to learning.

“It is completely clear that the regime has a great fear of new big uprisings, especially in the universities,” said Dr Erfani.

In step with any planned online programming, the government has sought to pre-empt any student protests, with more than 2,800 students summoned to disciplinary meetings to promise they will not participate in any anti-government demonstrations – with those who fail to do so at risk of losing their university registration, she said.

Dr Erfani noted that historically, the regime had employed similar tactics, pushing students off campuses during political flashpoints.

“It happened several times, but locally. I even remember that when I was a first-year student [at Tabriz University] in July 2000, on the first anniversary of the first uprising of the students in 1999, protests happened,” she said.

“Exams [were] cancelled and they closed the dormitories. That happened in other universities too.”

But regardless of government attempts to stifle dissent, she was confident the anti-establishment zeitgeist would prevail.

“The people of Iran are on fire under the ashes,” she said. “The regime is completely aware that if the protests start, [it] is their end.”

pola.lem@timeshighereducation.com