Iran universities target of conservative attacks

Kazem Seddighi

Tehran’s Friday prayers, led by Kazem Seddighi, focused on “cleansing” the universities as a means of putting an end to the recent unrest. Mr. Seddighi claimed: “There is need for another revolution in the universities, like the first one.”

After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, in addition to firing a large number of university faculty members and executives, the teaching curricula and methods were also adapted to Islamic standards.

Mr. Seddighi called for a complete overhaul of every field in the human sciences and urged “pious professors who are knowledgeable in Islamic issues” to write the necessary humanities textbooks based on the Quran and Islamic laws.

He maintained some professors have taken “a western hue” and directly connected, what he called “riots by rogues,” to certain faculties at the university.

Following the June presidential elections and the mass protests against the alleged fraudulent victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei also expressed his concerns about the two million students that are enrolled in the human sciences at Iranian universities claiming that the field of humanities “results in doubt and uncertainty about the principles of faith and religion.” He maintained that there aren’t enough professors with expertise in the Islamic worldview to meet the teaching needs of these students.

In today’s Friday prayers, Mr. Seddighi claimed “Western theories do not reflect the realities of Iranian society. “ He added: “For instance, some lawyers are unable to tolerate the criminal code and women’s rights accorded in Islamic law. And they even reveal these feelings.”

Mr. Seddighi pointed out to protests against the adoption of Islamic “Ghesas” law (literally, punishment in kind) at the beginning of the Revolution and the fierce reaction of Imam Khomeini to the criticism of these laws.

In the past weeks, there have been widespread protests against the increase in the number executions in Iran. Some law experts claim that some of these executions, while in complete violation of international agreements signed by Iran, are also against Iran’s national laws. Iran has one of the highest numbers of executions in the world.