IRAN PURGES PROFESSORS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 004457

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/12/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR ECON ELAB
SUBJECT: IRAN PURGES PROFESSORS

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CLASSIFIED BY: Jason L Davis, Consul General, Dubai, UAE.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1.(U) Summary: The Iranian government forced 46 professors from
Tehran University to retire in the last two months, sparking
criticism and protests from political analysts, journalists, and
students. They accuse the government and university
administration of purging the country's universities of secular,
reform, opposition, or "Westernized" professors. Iranians
editorials have lambasted the government for harming the
education system, depriving students of experienced and renowned
professors, and acting against Islamic principles of respect for
elders. Government and university officials defend the moves as
apolitical administrative procedures, enforcing retirement
rules. End Summary.

The Retirements
--------------

2.(U) Since May, the government has forced university professors
throughout Iran to retire in growing numbers, beginning with six
prominent law professors at Tehran University. In late June,
more than 40 professors at Tehran University were presented with
mandatory retirements, and there are reports of dozens of other
professors around the country receiving similar notices. (Note:
Since the revolution in 1979, the Iranian government imposed
conservative Islamist values in universities by removing
professors deemed secular or Western. The government initially
closed universities for two years while revising faculty and
curricula. Since then, government officials or informants have
monitored lecturers and classes. Such restrictions motivated
many professors to emigrate abroad, although a number of
Western-educated professors have remained. end note)

3.(U) Ahmad Saiee, aged 68 and a professor of international
relations at Tehran University, told the Los Angeles Times that
professors received letters granting them "the honor of
retirement." The list contained many senior lecturers at Tehran
University, including the dean of the law and international
relations school, Hassan Ali Doroudian. All were over 60 years
old and had been teaching for at least three decades. According
to credible news sources, several days of student protests broke
out after the announcements of the mandatory retirements,
leading to violent clashes with the police.

Political Motivations?
--------------

4.(U) The forced retirements, according to many political
analysts, journalists, and students, are focused on reformist
and liberal professors, with the intent of creating a
government-sanctioned, uniform ideology in universities. Former
Minister of Science, Research, and Technology Towfiqi told the
Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) the move looks suspicious,
and forcing professors with strong academic records to retire
would harm the universities. If this stepped up enforcement of
retirement rules is apolitical, then it should be applied
uniformly and without regard to ideology. Former Majles member
Ahmad Shirzad added that the retirings should not have happened
in one "massive wave."

5.(C) Many students saw the move as political coercion and
protested against government involvement in the university
system. One PhD student from Tehran University, applying for a
visa to transfer to a U.S. university, told PolEconoffs that the
professors who were retired were "pro-American," noting that
much of the international relations department had been educated
in the West. He added that the university environment has become
more restrictive in the last year, and some professors have felt
compelled to leave or have been forced to leave. He claimed the
student population has felt a definite impact from increasing
regulations, especially since the president of Tehran University
was changed, but he noted there is nothing the students can do
about it. He believes the international relations department
will suffer tremendously from the lack of Western-educated
professors and said, "you can't study international relations
without American foreign policy." He feels the government is
trying to refocus international relations studies around Iranian
foreign policy. Three of his professors have been retired; he
assumed they would find teaching positions in the US. In
contrast, a fairly recent graduate of Shahid Beheshti university
in North Tehran told PolEconoffs that there have not been any
forced retirements at his university or as many political
restrictions, and the environment is less tense and more
liberal.

6.(U) The Organization of University Graduates of Islamic Iran's
spokesman, Abdollah Mo'meni, told ISNA that previous government
statements made the intentions behind the retirements clear:

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"When the parliamentary deputy minister in the Ministry of
Science announces that 'we will not allow the outsiders into the
universities, and the supervision council will also only accept
the (political) insiders,' then certain steps, such as the
retirement of university professors, are not unexpected. At the
moment, a move to divide people between 'insiders' and
'outsiders' can be observed in all departments." He defined
'insiders' as those with pro-government intellectual
inclinations and political leanings. The secretary of the
Islamic Society of Students at Tehran University, Iman
Maleka-Ashtiyani, accused officials of trying to create a
homogenous intellectual climate. He said most people believe the
retirements were a political move to eliminate "critical
professors."

Editorials Against Forced Retirements
--------------

7.(U) Two reformist daily newspapers, Sharq and E'temad-e Melli,
published editorials criticizing the forced retirements. Mehran
Karami in Sharq on May 28 focuses on the forced retirement of
six Tehran University law professors. He writes that these
professors reflect decades of the country's political and legal
development and have trained many important members of Iranian
society. Retiring these academics does not solve the growing
youth unemployment problem. University professorships are not
just "jobs," according to Karami, but even if they are
considered jobs, they are best filled with experienced (and
hence older) professors. He also claims forced retirement
contradicts Islamic values, such as respecting elders and
observing human benevolence. In Iran's volatile domestic
environment characterized by recent student unrest, ethnic
tensions, and the nuclear crisis, the government should act more
prudently and respect the value and leadership that such
intellectuals bring to the nation. If not, civil society will
erode, causing a political and cultural divide between the
government and the people.

8.(U) E'temad-e Melli's anonymous editorial on May 31 warns the
loss of experienced faculty will harm Iran's already poor
academic record. The article cites statistics from UNESCO that
Iran has one of the highest levels of brain drain, and the cost
of training a professor is close to one million dollars.
Professors should be considered a national asset that cannot be
abandoned.

Government Defends its Actions
--------------

9.(U) Tehran University President Ayatollah Abbasali Amid
Zanjani denied publicly that the retirements were politically
motivated and said the professors were retired according to law.
(Note: Zanjani, the first cleric to hold this position, was
appointed by president by Ahmadinejad in December, breaking with
the normal process of selection by the university
administration, a move that sparked student protests at the
time. Notably, he is 68 years old. End Note.) Zanjani, as well
as officials in the Ministry of Science, claimed that in some
cases, the professors initiated the request to retire. The head
of the Basij at Tehran University and Tehran Medical Faculty,
Ali Ramazani, claimed forced retirements are a "common
occurrence", and the administrative departments followed
"ordinary procedures on the basis of university regulations"
when deciding which professors to retire. He claimed "there is a
lot of propaganda and media blackmail being organized by certain
movements."

10.(C) Comment: Although the feared general social crackdown
after Ahmadinejad's election last year has not yet materialized,
there has apparently been a targeted attempt to make
universities -- traditionally a hotbed of political activism in
Iran -- more conservative. For instance, we hear that dress
codes are more rigorously enforced on campuses than on the
streets. Such a trend suggests that the retirement of these
professors was likely politically-motivated. The thinking is
likely, "Remove the Western-minded 'provocateurs,' such as these
professors or political philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo, and
you'll remove the source of discontent among the youth."
BURNS