On the morning of Saturday, August 26, 2023, two professors of Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran were fired. Dr. Ameneh Aali and Hamideh Khademi, two members of Allameh Tabatabai University’s Faculty of Psychology, were expelled from this university after a phone call and without an official decree.
It is said that their dismissal was due to their support for student protests during the nationwide 2022-2023 uprising.
Dr. Ameneh Aali said in an interview with DidebanIran.ir: “Yes, we had signed the statements, accompanied the student sit-ins, and protested the suspension of the students… They suddenly called me over the phone and told me I was fired… We asked them to give us a written letter, but they said that they would not write an official letter.” (The state-run didbaniran.ir, August 26, 2023)
One month before the reopening of universities and schools in Iran, and on the eve of the first anniversary of the 2022-2023 uprising, which was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Morality Police, the Iranian regime has ramped up intelligence and security pressure on students and academics who were active in last year’s protests. They have intensified the dismissal and suspension of university professors.
“58 professors were fired, suspended, arrested, summoned or forced into early retirement from the beginning of the 13th government (headed by Ebrahim Raisi) from August 2021 to August 2023.” (The state-run Etemadonline.ir, August 24, 2023)
Also, according to the leaked documents from within the clerical regime, between December 2022 and February 2023, a security intelligence committee headed by the commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, suspended more than 300 academics for supporting what they call “riots.” At the same time, 643 students were banned from entering their universities, and 2,843 students were introduced to disciplinary committees.
