Iran Universities Dominated by Security Agencies, Says Unionist

The secretary of the union of Iran’s university professors warned that the Interior Ministry and the National Security Council now dominate the country’s universities.

“Unfortunately, there has been a lot of government interference at the universities. The power of the Ministry of Science has diminished and it seems it is the Interior Ministry that gives orders to universities,” said Karen Abrinia Saturday in an interview with relatively independent news website Khabaronline.

According to Abrinia, around 200 university professors faced “restrictions” last year, 25 of whom were fired from their positions over their support for the 2022 nationwide uprising triggered by the death in morality-police custody of Mahsa Amini.

Some university professors were sacked, some were denied tenure or annual promotion, and for some, their salaries were suspended, he remarked, further adding that these actions targeted those who supported the 2022 protests by “signing statements or publicly declaring their positions.”

Abrinia stated that many of these professors have been told that they can go back to work only if they “sign a letter of repentance and express their regret” over their past positions. “The university is an institution of science and it needs to be independent … The real damage now is the loss of autonomy from universities,” he pointed out.

All these pressures, coupled with low wages and poor economic conditions, have led to increasing frustration among university teachers, especially the young ones, and can drive them to emigrate, he warned.

In August, Etemad news in Iran released a list of 157 tenured professors who were dismissed, forced into retirement, or banned from teaching for their criticism and dissenting views from 2006 to the end of August 2023. The “purge” has gained momentum since the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement with at least 52 dissident university professors being dismissed, the report said.

In March, Mohammad Moghimi, the pro-regime chancellor of the University of Tehran, denied allegations of purging academics based on their political beliefs, instead accusing those dismissed of "moral issues."

A university professor specialized in Educational Sciences told Iran International that following the 2022 nationwide uprising, the universities have transformed into “prisons” and the security forces, directly and indirectly, try to monitor and control “the smallest issues related to professors, even their personal lives.”

The university is turning into a puppet in the hands of those in power who want academic institutions to exactly reflect the mainstream ideology of the Islamic Republic, said the professor who spoke on condition of anonymity.

She added that the university, as an academic institution, has always been affiliated with the state in Iran, but after the Mahsa uprising, the university has lost "all its autonomy" and even the slightest act of resistance is suppressed.

“Based on the new regulations set for the professors’ promotion, they need to attend courses about the necessity of the Islamization of universities or they will be denied tenure,” she went on to say.