Two Iranian University Professors Reportedly Suspended Amid Protest Crackdown

A professor at Tehran’s University of Arts says he has been suspended from his job for “disrupting the educational process at the university,” amid a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests.

Amir Maziar announced on his Instagram page that he was suspended from teaching for one semester and banned from all educational and research facilities.

He said his colleague Korosh Gulnari had also been suspended, and that other professors were under pressure to sign or write unspecified letters.

Iranian universities have been at the forefront of the protest movement sparked by the September death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of morality police.

A number of professors and lecturers have been suspended for expressed solidarity with the demonstrators.

Earlier this year, the Union Council of Iranian Students said 11 professors were fired from their jobs at Ferdowsi University in the northeastern city of Mashhad for "accompanying, supporting and defending the rights of students."

More than 140 universities have been the scene of anti-regime protests, sit-ins, violent clashes between students and security forces.

In defiance of authorities' warnings, many students refuse to attend classes until their demands are met: the unconditional release of all arrested students, the cancelation of arrest warrants for the released students, the lifting of academic suspensions and the withdrawal of security forces from campuses.

The Iranian security forces have killed more than 520 people and detained over 18,000, including hundreds of students, during the recent unrest, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.