The Association of Iranian Studies Committee on Academic Freedom on Friday urged top Tehran’s officials to drop charges against five independent scholars, calling it a politically motivated move.
“We express our deep concern over the Iranian government’s ongoing violations of academic freedom, particularly in light of the recent politically motivated arrests and detentions of independent scholars,” the group wrote.
The open letter was addressed to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei.
The AIS was referring to a recent crackdown on leftist academics Parviz Sedaghat, sociologist Mahsa Asadollahnejad, writer Shirin Karimi, economist Mohammad Maljoo, and scholar Heyman Rahimi.
“All face national security charges over their intellectual work. Sedaghat, Asadollahnejad, and Karimi were released on bail November 12, but charges persist; Maljoo and Rahimi face ongoing interrogations,” the group said.
"We are profoundly concerned by this latest violation of basic rights of citizenship and scholarly independence," the letter said. "We... consider it a clear violation of their fundamental right to academic freedom."
The group called on Iran to drop all charges, allow academic freedom and respect the UN human rights charter.
'Crackdown campaign'
AIS, founded in 1967, represents global experts on Iran and advocates for free scholarly exchange.
The arrests have drawn wider condemnation. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for the immediate release of Sedaghat and other detained scholars, while PEN America denounced Iran’s “escalating campaign against freedom of expression.”
Human rights groups have described the arrests and summonses as part of a broader campaign of arrests meant to stifle public debate following Iran’s 12-day June war with Israel.
In an article published three weeks after the June war, Sedeghat had written that despite the ceasefire with Israel, “we continue to live within the same rhetoric, the same confrontational tone.”
He warned that Iran’s economy “has been caught in structural blockage” and that without political reform, the country is headed "toward systemic collapse.”
"There's never been a time like this in the Middle East. You have peace in the Middle East now," Trump told Fox News in an interview published on Friday.
"You have Iran, which has been beaten very badly, and their nuclear capability taken away, and they want to make a deal, and we probably will make a deal with Iran. But you have peace for the first time in the Middle East, you have real peace."
Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon and has rejected US demands that it end domestic enrichment, rein in its missile program and cut off help for its armed Mideast allies.
Washington engaged in talks with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program earlier this year after giving its Mideast arch-enemy a 60-day ultimatum.
On the 61st day, June 13, Israel launched a surprise military campaign which was capped with US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear sites in Esfahan, Natanz and Fordow.
The impasse over the disputed program festers despite Trump's assertion that the US attacks had "obliterated" it.
'Down to size'
Trump welcomed the de facto leader of Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House this week, and has several times said his actions in Iran defanged Tehran. He repeatedly said Washington was in dialogue with Tehran in assertions flatly rejected by Iran.
"One year ago. You had nuclear weapons. You had Iran was boasting about how strong they were, you had this is a totally different Middle East right now," Trump added.
"You have countries that want to make peace, as opposed to countries that had no idea of making peace. We've taken a big, dark cloud off of the Middle East by bringing Iran back down to size."
The two-year regional conflagration sparked by Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 was paused by a ceasefire Trump brokered last month, but the truce appears fragile as Israeli air strikes hit Gaza and southern Lebanon this week.
Israel accuses Hamas and Hezbollah, armed allies of Iran on its southern and northern fronts, of seeking to rearm and posing a threat to its forces. The two groups say Israel is violating internationally brokered ceasefires with the attacks.
"You have Hamas, which is has been, you know, beaten very badly," Trump told Fox News. "You have Hezbollah with Lebanon, which is not good, but that's a, you know, relatively small situation, not a good situation, but small."
The Asr-e Iran news outlet direct a sharp rebuke at Alireza Biniaz, the Kish Friday prayer leader in the form of a lengthy commentary. Friday prayer leaders are official positions appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office.
“What does a special beach for the Friday prayer leader and his friends even mean? Was wanting special treatment in other areas not enough – now a special beach too?” the outlet said.
“You go to university with special privileges, get hired with special privileges, use a privileged internet line, and then go to Kish to stay at a special beach?” Asr-e Iran wrote.
Biniaz's original letter was addressed to Mohammadjafar Kabiri, the head of the Kish Free Zone Organization. Earlier discussions with the economy minister, Biniaz wrote, had produced an understanding to build and operate a special beach for the Friday prayer institution.
He urged officials to expedite and finalize its allocation to allow access for “devout individuals, committed citizens, officials and special guests.”
Public spaces and equal access
Asr-e Iran rejected dividing society into categories of devotion. “Why insist on separating society into devout and non-devout?” it said. “It is the right of all Iranians to enjoy the island’s amenities, and the degree of anyone’s devotion is not for the Friday prayer leader of Kish – or anywhere else – to determine,” the website added.
The outlet asked President Massoud Pezeshkian to verify the letter’s authenticity and assess any role played by the economy ministry, arguing that inaction would reinforce perceptions of privileged access for clerics.
Earlier cases reflect a wider pattern
This is not the first time Friday prayer leaders and figures close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have sought special advantages for themselves, with their names appearing in economic corruption files and similar cases.
In March 2024, journalist Yashar Soltani published documents revealing financial misconduct by Kazem Sedighi, then the Tehran Friday prayer leader, involving the 4,200-square-meter property valued at roughly ten trillion rials ($8.85 million).
The property, which had been under the control of a seminary managed by Sedighi, was transferred for only 66 billion rials ($58.4 thousand).
After widespread criticism and a strong public reaction, Sedighi eventually wrote to Khamenei in August seeking “to be excused from leading Friday prayers in order to focus on academic, teaching and preaching work,” a request the Supreme Leader approved.