Iran’s Universities Targeted as Uprising Anniversary Approaches

The clampdown highlights the regime’s fear of academic institutions, the vanguard of anti-dictatorial movements in Iran.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, August 31, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Alireza Jafarzadeh, the deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), made the following commentary about how Iran’s regime is escalating its clampdown on universities as the 2022 uprising anniversary nears:

As the academic year begins and the anniversary of Iran’s 2022 uprising approaches, the regime is escalating its clampdown on universities, including faculty dismissals, student arrests, and expulsions.

These actions highlight the regime’s fear of academic institutions, the vanguard of anti-dictatorial movements in Iran, both under the dictatorship of the Shah and the current theocracy. Last year, universities played a leading role in popularizing the patriotic slogan “Down with the oppressors, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader,” in protests across Iran.

Recently, numerous professors have been ousted from leading universities like Sharif and Tehran. Leaked documents from Raisi’s presidential office highlight concerns about “the provocative role of a number of professors to create student protest and destructive actions.”

According to a document published and circulated in universities, the government of Raisi has initiated the process of recruiting 15,000 Basij members and regime supporters as faculty members. Additionally, Tehran University has announced plans to enroll members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, also called Hashd-al-Shaabi, an organization with a troubling history in Iraq and the surrounding region.

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI, warned that the regime’s suppressive tactics will not prevent future uprisings. She urged global unions of students and academics to condemn these actions and assist their Iranian counterparts.

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BACKGROUND
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) is a democratic coalition of Iranian opposition organizations and personalities and was founded in Tehran, Iran, in July 1981, as the alternative to the clerical regime, a month after the onset of the nationwide resistance to overthrow the ruling dictatorship.

The NCRI is committed to the affirmation of the people’s sovereignty in a republic founded on universal suffrage and pluralism; gender equality; separation of religion and state and freedom of religions and faiths; freedom of thought, press, and association; support for peace in the Middle East; plan for the autonomy of Iranian nationalities and ethnicities; and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as embodied in Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s 10-Point Plan for Future Iran.

The NCRI would serve as a provisional government led by its President-elect Mrs. Rajavi, and its primary responsibility will be to hold free and fair elections for a national and constituent assembly within six months to ensure the peaceful transition of power to the elected representatives of the Iranian people.

Iran’s largest, most organized opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also referred to as the MEK, is the principal member of the NCRI.

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These materials are being distributed by the National Council of Resistance of Iran-U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-US). Additional information is on file with the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

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