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A University of Arkansas Iranian-American professor fired from her tenured position in late March is now facing investigations in Britain over allegations of academic misconduct tied to her research on Iran.
Cambridge University Press, which published a book by University of Arkansas professor Shirin Saeidi based on her Cambridge PhD dissertation, is investigating claims that the work contains fabricated or unauthorized interviews with female victims of the Iranian government.
Iran International has also learned that Cambridge University is reviewing allegations related to Saeidi’s PhD dissertation itself.
University of Arkansas President Jay Silveria dismissed Saeidi over matters unrelated to the Cambridge investigations. She has appealed her termination, and the university’s Board of Trustees is set to review the case on May 21.
Saeidi’s book, Women and the Islamic Republic: How Gendered Citizenship Conditions the Iranian State, is now under scrutiny in Britain.
A spokesperson for Cambridge University Press told Iran International that the publisher “takes all complaints about our publications seriously” and is continuing to investigate the allegations “according to standard COPE guidelines.”
COPE, the Committee on Publication Ethics, is an organization that addresses ethical standards in scholarly publishing.
Iran International obtained a copy of a complaint submitted to Cambridge University Press by Maryam Nouri, author of the memoir In Search of Liberation, accusing Saeidi of fabricating interviews and using her work without permission.
Nouri, who was imprisoned by the Islamic Republic in 1985 while pregnant and later gave birth in prison, wrote that “I am writing to submit a formal complaint regarding the unethical and unauthorized use of my personal memoir and the fabrication of interview material by Dr. Shirin Saeidi.”
She added: “I never met with Ms. Shirin Saeidi, nor have I had any interview with her in the city of Cologne or in any other city in Germany.”
According to Nouri, Saeidi used material from her memoir “in both her doctoral dissertation and her published book without my written or verbal permission, for her own personal benefit, including advancing her academic credentials, university status, and professional position.”
“I consider this misuse a clear violation of my personal rights and dignity, and I strongly condemn it,” she wrote.
A Cambridge University spokesperson told Iran International that the university “takes allegations of academic misconduct seriously” and that concerns raised would be reviewed “in line with the relevant University policies and procedures.”
In a series of posts published on X in December, former Iranian political prisoner Nasrin Parvaz also denied ever being interviewed by Saeidi.
“I never knew Saeidi, and I never had an interview with her,” Parvaz wrote, adding that Saeidi had only used the Farsi version of her memoir published more than two decades earlier.
Numerous requests for comment sent by Iran International to Saeidi and her attorney, JJ Thompson, went unanswered.
Saeidi had already drawn controversy prior to her dismissal from the University of Arkansas. The university had previously disciplined her for allegedly using official university letterhead in an appeal seeking the release of Hamid Nouri, an Iranian official convicted in Sweden in 2022 over his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988.
Saeidi has said she had permission to use the letterhead.
Lawdan Bazargan, director of the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), who first publicized Saeidi’s support for Hamid Nouri, later began examining the sourcing in Saeidi’s academic work.
Bazargan told Iran International that several former political prisoners named in Saeidi’s dissertation and book had publicly denied being interviewed by her, raising broader questions about documentation, recordings, consent forms, and sourcing.
“The credibility of oral history research depends entirely on documentation, informed consent, and verifiable sourcing,” Bazargan said.
“If key testimonies cannot be substantiated, then the scholarly foundation of the book itself comes into question, because its central arguments rely heavily on those contested interviews.”
Bazargan also called for scrutiny of the supervisory process behind Saeidi’s Cambridge dissertation, including the role of her PhD supervisor, Professor Glen Rangwala. Iran International sent a request for comment to Rangwala.
Saeidi also drew criticism over social media posts praising former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and defending the Iranian establishment during the recent war. Her X account has since been suspended.
