Some Clerics In Iran Criticize Zealous Hijab Enforcement

Marking it as an unprecedented disaster in the history of Iran's Sunni-populated city, Saeedi expressed dismay over the failure to prosecute the perpetrators and instigators of the violence that claimed nearly 100 lives and left dozens injured during anti-regime protests on Friday, September 30, 2022.

"The bloody Friday in Zahedan was a bitter incident that can be said to have permanently affected the conditions of the province in a way," Saeedi told Didban Iran website.

Despite widespread calls for accountability, none of the security personnel involved in the violence have faced justice. Saeedi lamented the government's inaction in holding those responsible accountable, stating, "We expected the perpetrators and instigators of the Black Friday to be prosecuted."

Previous attempts to seek justice have been marred by controversy, with reports indicating attempts to resolve the matter through blood money settlements, disregarding the demands of the victims' families.

Saeedi also criticized the government's response to the recent floods that devastated the Sunni-majority province of Sistan-Baluchestan, highlighting the contrast between the swift action taken to transport ballot boxes for parliamentary elections on March 1 and the lack of assistance provided to flood victims.

"How could you bring ballot boxes with a boat, but couldn't help the flood victims?" Saeedi questioned.

Furthermore, Saeedi revealed that the bank accounts of individuals collecting donations for flood victims have been blocked, exacerbating the plight of those affected by the disaster.

The southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, home to a large Baluch population, has historically faced economic deprivation and persecution. Estimates suggest that around half a million people in the region have been left homeless and stranded following the devastating flash floods in early March.

The Secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, Kazem Gharibabadi, accused Western countries of influencing the decisions of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council – and reiterated that the Council does not recognize the Council’s fact-finding mission.

The Iranian regime uses its High Council to defend itself against international criticism for human rights abuses.

“By complying with the political and mostly illegitimate demands of Western countries in 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Council has caused more suffering to the victims of human rights violations and become a tool for political interference [in other countries’ affairs,” Gharibabadi said in response to the UN fact-finding mission’s preliminary report published on March 8.

Established by the UN human rights council in November 2022, in response to the widespread Woman, Life, Freedom protests that engulfed the nation, the fact-finding mission primarily centers on Iran's nationwide 2022-2023 protests. Its experts have expressed regrets over the Iranian authorities' lack of meaningful cooperation, despite repeated requests for information, including details regarding the killing and injury of security forces, as well as their denial of access to the country and its people.

In contrast, Gharibabadi referred to the mandate of the fact-finding mission, claiming that Iran “deals responsibly” with matters related to “riots in the country” while underlining that President Ebrahim Raisi appointed a national committee to investigate the “riots.”

The country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with Iranian officials, have consistently dismissed the characterization of the uprising as peaceful, instead arbitrarily labeling protesters as "rioters" and accusing them of engaging in "terrorist acts."

Regime denies deliberately shooting protesters' faces

In November 2022, more than 370 ophthalmologists reported that numerous protesters struck by rubber bullets, metal pellets, and paintball bullets fired at close range during the protests were treated at medical centers. Many suffered permanent loss of eyesight in one or both eyes.

Backing up those reports, the fact-finding mission’s investigation found that “security forces used unnecessary and disproportionate force which resulted in the unlawful killing and injuries of protestors. A pattern of extensive injuries to protesters’ eyes caused the blinding of scores of women, men and children, branding them for life. The Mission also found evidence of extrajudicial killings.”

Moreover, the report highlighted that female protesters had been deliberately singled out due to their gender. They were subjected to close-range shootings aimed at their faces and genitals.

“A witness, who lost the sight in one eye, recalled a member of the security forces directing a paintball gun loaded with rubber bullets to the head from 1 m away. The mission notes the deterrent and chilling effect of such injuries, as they permanently marked the victims, essentially “branding” them as protesters. In a context where protests are effectively criminalized, the mission is satisfied that such an effect was intended,” the report read.

“These acts form part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in Iran, namely against women, girls, boys and men who have demanded freedom, equality, dignity and accountability,” said Sara Hossain, chair of the UN fact-finding mission.

Human rights organizations have compiled the names of at least 550 protesters, including 68 children, who were killed by security forces.

The full 400-page report is scheduled to be published on March 18th.

Prominent sociologist, Ebrahim Bay Salami, himself fired in January last year, remarked, "My colleagues and I are prepared to engage in a debate with the chancellor of the University of Tehran," after thousands of academics around Iran have been forced to retire or had contracts terminated in the wake of the 2022 uprising.

The controversy arose when Mohammad Moghimi, the university's chancellor, declared in an interview, "We have not expelled any professors at the University of Tehran. When allegations of expulsion are raised concerning a professor, it signifies the unilateral termination of the professor's contract with the university due to various reasons. If any cases of expulsion are identified, please introduce them to me. I am fully prepared to hold a session with the media present and debate with any professor claiming to have been expelled."

Salami, speaking in an interview with Khabar Online, urged Chancellor Moghimi to release his complete academic dossier and disclose any issues that led to his expulsion.

Azin Movahed, another university faculty member, said he and his colleagues had also received notices of dismissal, expressing willingness to debate with Moghimi on the matter.

Recent reports reveal the extent of academic pressure in Iran. Etemad, a prominent reformist daily, published a list documenting the dismissal, forced retirement, or banning from teaching of 157 tenured professors between 2006 and August 2023. The trend extended to non-tenured lecturers, purportedly replaced by individuals aligned with the government's ideological stance.

A further 32,000 associate professors have been removed from their positions at various branches of the Islamic Azad University in Iran, it was revealed last year, amidst a major reshuffling of academic roles in the country's higher education system.

The situation escalated amid protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in September 2022, prompting a crackdown by the Raisi administration, including summoning, detaining, and suspending professors aligned with the demonstrators.

During an online meeting, Pahlavi said that the armed forces will act to ensure the survival of the regime if dissidents and activists employ vindictive rhetoric against them during the campaigns to topple the Islamic Republic.

“We are not seeking revenge. We want hatred and revenge to be replaced by coexistence and reconciliation. If the regime changes and our culture is still to take revenge, we have done nothing,” he stressed.

According to the exiled prince, if as little as 3.5% of the Iranian population can act in concert in an organized manner, it can lead to a regime change based on the principles of non-violent struggle.

“However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to whether the armed forces, who protect the regime, will stand in front of the people or not,” he went on to say.

Pahlavi further remarked that the most important thing at the moment is to save Iran from an inhuman regime for the sake of the future secular democracy in the country.

The armed forces have been at the front lines of the regime's oppression against the uprising. At least 500 civilians have been murdered by brutal crackdowns around Iran since the uprising of 2022 as the country's state security imposes harsh punishment for protesters and dissidents.

In an interview with the semi-official Mehr News Agency on Tuesday, Mohammad Moghimi asserted that not a single academic has been dismissed from Iran’s top state university on political grounds.

“The ethical problems of some professors who make a lot of noise on social media, by the way, has been proven,” Moghimi claimed.

In September 2023, Moghimi asserted that he had “full knowledge” that some academics who had been dismissed had faced lawsuits from students regarding "ethical matters."

The latest wave of academic purges in Iran began during President Ebrahim Raisi's administration. It gained momentum shortly after nationwide protests under the banner of "Woman, Life, Freedom" erupted following the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in the custody of the so-called morality police on September 16, 2022. Following Amini’s death, many universities became centers of extensive months-long student protests.

While the law prohibits the military from entering academic institutions, plainclothes security forces and organized militia were extensively deployed to suppress the student protests. Armed plainclothes agents and vigilantes went so far as to attack students inside Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology on October 3, 2022, resulting in the arrest of dozens of students.

Academics Fired Over Protest Support

Ali Sharifi-Zarchi, a prominent member of the bioinformatics and AI Faculty within the prestigious computer engineering department of Sharif University of Technology, was among the first to be dismissed for his support of dissident students.

Zarchi's revelation of the actions taken against him prompted several other academics, such as Somayyeh Sima, a faculty member in the water engineering department at Tarbiat Modares University, to come forward and share their own experiences.

Numerous academics who were dismissed, terminated, suspended, or demoted for supporting protesting students faced arbitrary accusations. They were accused of “academic sluggishness”, “political immorality and media show-off”, and "defiling" the academic arena with their "factional and even anti-national views" by the ministry of higher education.

The purge has been widely attributed to ultra-hardliners allied with President Ebrahim Raisi, aiming to assert dominance in the political arena by ousting other politicians, officials, and academics. Former moderate conservative Speaker Ali Larijani coined the term "purification" to characterize these plans.

Academic Purges: From 1980 To Today

The history of academic purges in the Islamic Republic dates back to 1980, shortly after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. The newly established government's Cultural Revolutionary Headquarters shut down universities across Iran for three years, aiming to eliminate dissenting voices and impose its Islamic revolutionary ideology on higher education institutions.

During that period, thousands of professors and students were purged for a variety of reasons, including their political affiliations and perceived Western influences, in what became known as the "Cultural Revolution".

Throughout Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency (2005-2013), closely aligned with hardliners, the regime sought to recruit academics who shared the ideological stance of the hardline and religious establishment. Concurrently, it endeavored to eradicate its political adversaries, namely reformists, from academia.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has also repeatedly emphasized that universities must adhere to Islamic principles, asserting that those not aligned with the regime should be barred from teaching. In a speech delivered in July 2015, he stated, "Do not employ unreliable individuals in universities at any cost." He urged, "There are good professors; employ them."