The Big Purge: Another University Professor Sacked in Iran

Behrooz Chamanara, a faculty member of Kurdistan University’s Department of Kurdish Language and Literature, says he has been dismissed.

Chamanara, who was arrested during nationwide protests in December, said he was informed of his dismissal via a phone call.

The authorities are increasingly purging the ranks of university professors as the first anniversary of nationwide protests approaches.

According to Iran’s student union councils, the Ministry of Science has begun recruiting supporters of the Islamic Republic as professors and assistant professors.

Amir Hossein Sabeti and Abbas Mozon, two state TV presenters, were appointed as professors at Sharif University following the sacking of Ali Sharifi Zarchi, a respected professor in the Computer Faculty.

The student union councils also reported that after the dismissal of Hossein Mesbahian, a prominent philosophy professor, Mahmoud Khatami, a philosophy professor accused of plagiarism, was invited to join Tehran University.

According to the Etemad newspaper, as many as 157 university professors were fired from their positions during the presidencies of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hassan Rouhani and Ebrahim Raisi.

Fifty-eight of them were dismissed in the first two years of Raisi’s administration.

The Union of Iranian University Professors has condemned the dismissals, warning that disrespecting the dignity of professors and compromising university independence would inflict irreparable harm on the country's academic institutions.