Iran Universities Dominated by Security Agencies, Says Unionist

The conservative website Tabnak wrote initial reports indicating that a "terrorist team" was identified and encircled by security forces on Kowsar Street in Zahedan.

However, the Fars News Agency, which is associated with the Revolutionary Guards, attributed the incident to personal disputes, though it did not provide additional details.

Halvash news which covers the province, said a more extensive security presence, including plainclothes agents, had been deployed to the scene as fighting lasted for around two hours, with a reconnaissance drone spotted monitoring the situation.

This latest incident in Zahedan occurs against the backdrop of heightened regional instability. On April 4, clashes in two southern cities of the Sistan-Baluchestan province resulted in over 20 deaths involving security forces and members of the Jaish al-Adl militant group.

In related developments, the Southeast Headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Revolutionary Guards announced the recent arrest of several individuals at a religious school in Rask. The suspects were accused of supporting the insurgent Sunni Baluch group Jaish al-Adl. The Revolutionary Guards claim the cooperation of local residents facilitated the arrests.

Jaish al-Adl, however, has denied any affiliation with those detained, condemning the arrests as "a clear lie and conspiracy." The group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Iran and several Western governments, warned of potential repercussions and advised against further provocations.

“The security apparatus of the regime must be aware that such actions are a clear provocation of the Jaish al-Adl organization…, and as such, these acts could have unpredictable consequences for our land,” read the group’s statement.

According to the Red Crescent's emergency response organization, the floods have sparked a crisis that spans much of the country.

The Meteorological Organization of Iran warned of a new wave of precipitation starting Sunday and spreading to multiple regions.

The latest natural tragedy comes after mid-April's rainfall which caused severe flooding and waterlogging in Sistan-Baluchestan province, destroying dozens of villages and disrupting utilities for at least 300 others. It comes when the country is already facing its hardest economic times amid ongoing social oppression. 

Social media users and local reports have highlighted a lack of emergency aid during the incidents, during which several people reportedly lost their lives. Despite forecasts that the new wave of rain might not lead to flooding, recent days have seen flooded streets and damaged infrastructure in various cities.

One of the hardest-hit areas was Shabestar county in East Azarbaijan, where floods have caused significant destruction.

In Dezful, in Khuzestan province, severe damage to civil and agricultural infrastructure has been reported, with homes and city parks submerged. The local officials have responded by closing riverside parks and ordering the evacuation of vehicles from these areas.

Video footage sent to Iran International shows severe flooding in the streets of Ahvaz, following the rainfall on Friday.

Hossein Zafari, deputy of the Crisis Management Organization, noted that floods in the provinces of Ilam and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari have resulted in livestock losses, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers.

The provinces of Khorasan Razavi and Tehran have also reported damage from the recent heavy rains, leading to floods in several villages and areas with more displacement expected.

“We will have no mercy on the criminals associated with violent crimes, especially the drug traffickers who are death dealers and burn people’s lives with the fire of addiction,” he said on Saturday.

According to Amnesty International’s report, Iran conducted at least 853 executions in the past year, marking the highest figure in eight years, more than half of those linked to drug-related offenses.

In April, 82 Iranian and international human rights groups called on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to suspend its cooperation with Iran until it halts drug-related executions.

The coalition highlighted that prisoners charged with drug offenses are sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Courts in Iran based on “torture-tainted confessions, without due process and fair trial rights and often without access to a lawyer.”

“We are concerned that hundreds more will be executed in the coming months if we do not increase the political cost of these executions for the Islamic Republic. We call on all human rights organizations and activists to take part in a special global campaign to stop drug-related executions in Iran,” the statement read.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the Director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization, warned that the UNODC has remained silent about the sharp hike in drug-related executions in the country, while it cooperates with Tehran on combating drug trafficking.

The drug-related executions are “aimed at instilling fear and preventing more protests” and have been carried out “without any political cost and consequences,” he stressed.

The minister, Reza Morad Sahraei, continued his criticism, telling the state-run Tasnim news agency that the document was "dictated from outside" and, under the administration of Ebrahim Raisi, is "completely cut out of any planning process."

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a set of standards developed by UNESCO that provides children and young people with a basic understanding of the environment, human rights, and the elimination of discrimination in society.

The UN General Assembly adopted the document in September 2015 with the goal of improving the quality of education worldwide. The document was signed by member states, who agreed to anticipate the financing needed to improve education, prevent child abuse, and promote gender equality.

While the Iranian government signed on to the document under former president Hassan Rouhani (2013-2021), it was not implemented after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei explicitly criticized it, claiming it promoted the "defective, destructive and corrupt Western lifestyle."

In a speech at a 2022 UNESCO summit, the country’s current President, Ebrahim Raisi, described the 2030 Education Plan as "one-dimensional and secular." He said the Islamic Republic had drafted its own “transformation” document based on “Iranian-Islamic educational philosophy.”

A year later, Iran's Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) announced a resolution called the "revocation of the 2030 document." SCCR is a regime policy body responsible for developing and formulating scientific, educational, religious, and research strategies. In 2023, the EU and UK designated this unelected body accountable exclusively to Ali Khamenei.

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the state has relentlessly attempted – and failed – to indoctrinate Iranians with its Islamist ideology through the country’s education system.

Following the significant involvement of the young generation in the nationwide anti-regime protests in 2022, the state initiated "purges" targeting thousands of staff within the country’s educational system, aiming to remove individuals perceived as threats.

Scores of teachers who supported the protests were expelled, and many were forced to retire early, while 3,500 clerics and seminarians have instead been hired as teachers instead to fill some of the tens of thousands of new positions created to deal with the shortage.

An education ministry spokesperson, Ali Farhadi, has stated that the ministry only learned about the recruitment after it had occurred. “We, too, found out that these individuals had been accepted [for the positions] after the examinations [of candidates for teaching positions] were held,” he claimed.

Regime-run media, however, has been advocating that clerics become teachers for months.

Despite the fact that the clergy have operated unofficial schools before, lawmakers hastily approved a proposal in January to have the Ministry of Education issue licenses to persons and legal entities wishing to establish private schools attached to mosques if they meet certain building requirements.

A gender-specific school curriculum and textbook changes were also discussed by Education Minister Reza Morad Sahraei in November.

Against this backdrop, teachers claim the regime’s policies and changes have transformed the country's schools into “religious and military bases”.

A December interview with Khabar Online, a domestic outlet, reported teachers' concerns about plans to "shift schools away from their primary function,” stating that ideological and religious studies have taken over most of the content of the school curriculum, even science, causing students to lose interest in the subject.

Political figures close to the government have voiced their discontent for the appointment of Alamolhoda who has denied the oppression of women in Iran They labeled the appointment as an act of nepotism and favoritism at the university known as a hotbed of government-appointed loyalists. She also does not the academic credentials to be part of such a committee.

She is the daughter of firebrand Shiite cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda, who has close ties to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and known for his extremist views on foreign policy and mandatory hijab.

In response to mounting pressure, the public relations department of Tehran University's Family Sciences Department issued a statement defending Alamolhoda's appointment, citing her "legal” right to the appointment.

The controversy unfolds against a backdrop of political turmoil within Iranian academia, especially at Tehran University, where numerous professors have faced expulsion, suspension, or forced retirement under Raisi's government.

Last August, Etemad newspaper published a report documenting the expulsion of 157 professors from Iranian universities, indicating a trend that commenced with Raisi's assumption of office in 2021. The wave of suspensions and expulsions has prompted student councils to denounce it as part of a broader effort to purge universities nationwide.

The phenomenon of "political purification" extends beyond academia, with regime hardliners targeting rivals across various organizations and institutions. Coined by former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, the term describes efforts by ultraconservative allies of President Raisi to consolidate power by sidelining other politicians and officials.

The trend of purges within academia traces back to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency and has persisted through Hassan Rouhani's administration and President Raisi's tenure. Over the years, successive governments have systematically expelled experienced professors for their perceived "secular views" and other political reasons.

The second wave of purges, intensifying shortly after the protests of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in September 2022, has escalated with the support of senior officials.

In addition, the Raisi government has been widely criticized for its poor record in managing the economy, blamed partly on the appointment of incompetent hardliner loyalists to important positions.

Alamolhoda is also known for some of her unusual actions and statements, such as expressing her aspiration to write a book similar to that of Michelle Obama. “They asked me to write a book similar to this one. I read the book, and it was very beautiful, captivating, and influential. I even showed some parts of it to the president, and he said that writing a book in this field is the right thing to do.”

She was thrust into the limelight last September when she accompanies her husband to the UN General Assembly. She spoke to some of the world’s top media, including ABC and Newsweek.