VZCZCXRO6800
PP RUEHBC RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDE #4457/01 1931512
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 121512Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2276
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 1629
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 5256

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 
 
DUBAI 00004457  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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: 
 
DUBAI 00004457  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
"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