2/19/2024 0 Comments Iran proudThe head of Tehran University, Mohammad Moghimi, had tried to defend the dismissals, describing professors as facing “ethics problems.” Some hard-liners also have tried to insist the firings weren’t political, though the hard-line newspaper Kayhan directly linked the dismissals to the demonstrations. is a loss for the students, science and the country,” Rouhani said, according to a report by the online news site Jamaran. “Destroying the prestige of the universities and their professors. Rouhani, whose government reached the nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, has criticized the university firings. Alaei had once, a decade ago, compared Khamenei to Iran’s former shah, while Amiri was a former official in the administration of the relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani. University teachers who were dismissed also included Hossein Alaei, a former commander in the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and vice defense minister, and Reza Salehi Amiri, a former culture minister. The firings have been primarily focused at schools in Tehran, including Tehran Azad University, Tehran University and Tehran Medical University. Over the past year, the Union Council of Iranian Students has said that hundreds of students faced disciplinary panels at their universities over the protests.ĭuring the same period, at least 110 university professors and lecturers have been fired or temporarily suspended, according to a report by the reformist newspaper Etemad. Though university campuses have largely remained one of the few safe places for students to demonstrate, even campuses have felt the latest crackdown. There’s historic precedence for the concerns: In 1999, student-led protests swept Tehran and at least three people were killed while 1,200 were detained as demonstrations rapidly spread to other cities. Videos of the demonstrations last year showed many young people taking part in the protests, leading authorities to apparently focus more closely on Iran’s universities in recent weeks. Unemployment officially stands at 8% overall, though one out of every five young Iranians is out of work. Prices of food and other essentials skyrocketed as inflation gripped the nation, in part due to worldwide pressures following the coronavirus pandemic and the launch of Russia’s war on Ukraine. However, the protests found fuel in the widespread economic pain that Iran’s 80 million people have faced since the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers after then-President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally pulled America from the accord.Īs Western sanctions came back, Iran currency - the rial - cratered, decimating people’s lifesavings. Iran’s government, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have blamed the West for fomenting the unrest, without offering evidence to support the allegation.
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