Iranian minister calls for political cleansing of universites

Minister of Science and Technology, Kamran Daneshjoo

Iran’s Minister of Science and Technology gave another warning to the Iranian academia and universities that individuals deviating from “the desired path of the people” will have no place in Iranian universities.

Kamran Daneshjoo has repeatedly threatened university staff in the past year with dismissal should they fail to “adhere to the system and the Supreme Leader” and maintained he can easily replace undesirable academicians with experts who are also committed to the Supreme Leadership.

The Supreme Leader has also called for a revision of humanities curricula and greater care in hiring professors, making sure they subscribe to the Islamic worldview.

Mehr reports that in a meeting with professors and heads of universities, the Minister of Science claimed: “Being a member of the academic elite is not a licence to do whatever they want.”

He maintained that universities are not a place “for political games” and added: “Universities are a place of science and faith; they should not be transformed into a training ground for some people’s foot soldiers.”

The student movement in Iran has supported the cause of post-election protests against fraud in the elections and kept the fire of protests burning in the past year through demonstrations and protests against government officials on the campuses.

In the post-election protests many university students have been arrested or suspended from their classes. Some have received heavy prison terms. A number of professors have also been dismissed or forced into early retirement.