During the Mihssa Movement, universities in Iran were one of the main strongholds where the cry of “Women, Life, Freedom” was raised by students and professors. The demands of this section of the scientific community were completely in line with the demands of the people; demands that led thousands of people to take to the streets from their homes in cities and villages. Many students and professors who sought to join the people were subjected to severe suppression by security forces and university officials, and were suspended, exiled, or expelled. Among the many professors who were expelled from the university, “Azin Mohadd” is a professor of the music department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran, who is not willing to return to class until the demands of the people and students are met.

What you are about to read is an interview with this suspended professor, in light of recent statements by Masoud Pezeshkian, stating that all suspended and expelled students and professors must return to the university. The interview covers various topics, from the suppression of students and disciplinary measures, to the role of professors during the Mahsa Movement.

How did the line of protests form in the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement at the university?

Conditions have become strange and, like many other social issues, it is clear who should be at the forefront of protests, representing the demands of the people and being their voice. It is unfortunate that the forefront of our protests are the young generation. The forefront of our protests are families who have nothing but the brave youth they have raised. We must ask, during the uprising, where were the respected professors? And now, on this path, where are the experts? Where are the sociologists who are half philosophers, or the doctors who have one foot in Iran and one foot in other countries? Where are the lawyers who have strange and unusual contracts with the people and all of them, despite appearing to oppose the conditions, are in which line of protests? In the early days of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, the youth were full of enthusiasm and expressed their civil demands, but unfortunately, the power of weapons and suppression succeeded in silencing their voices and hiding the people’s movement

Has there been any progress in your suspension case following recent discussions with Masoud physicians?

In the campus of fine arts, I haven’t heard of any changes. At least in my case, as I believe I am the only suspended professor of the music department of the faculty of fine arts, no changes have been made. Of course, my suspension started from the foundation, through illegal institutions and solely for the purpose of intimidating and pressuring me, which was triggered by my positions and support for protesting students. My support was not limited to just participating in protests. I was truly worried about students who were being arrested in front of the university gate or being imprisoned in the disciplinary committee’s room for no reason, or students who were unjustly summoned to the disciplinary committee for the purpose of intimidation and pressure.

Can you give some examples of inappropriate encounters that have happened with students inside and outside of the university?

I was informed once or twice that a student was being harassed in front of the entrance door, and every time I immediately went to the security building to see what could be done. In those situations, I would eventually find familiar faces in the security office and ask about the student’s situation up close. In one case, when I went, Bahman told me that the situation was not good and it was better for me not to be seen personally. It was suggested that I follow up through the monitoring group, so I immediately went to the music group and talked to the group manager. It was agreed that the responsible expert of the group would call the security and follow up to see what the problem was. Fortunately, the security promised to release the student, but they kept their student ID for a while. Another incident was the first days when a large group of students were gathered while leaving the university campus and were taken to a minibus stationed next to the university gate by the morality police for intimidation

Before your suspension from the university, news was published about your salary being cut; explain about this issue and your own case.

The issue of cutting off my rights was initially just for intimidation. According to the regulations, cutting off the salary of a faculty member for disciplinary violations is completely illegal and no one at the university has the right to do so. In these regulations, it is stated that if a violation occurs, a verbal warning must be given first. If the verbal warning does not have an effect, then a written warning must be given. If the written warning does not have an effect, the next step is to include it in the file. If the written warning in the file still does not have an effect, then they can form a file and summon the faculty member for a disciplinary hearing. Even in these circumstances, according to the regulations of the Ministry of Science of the Islamic Republic, cutting off the salary is only allowed up to one-third of the amount and under no circumstances should the faculty member’s salary be completely cut off. Ultimately, if the faculty member is expelled after a legal process, their salary will

After my salary was cut for some time, they finally filed a complaint against me. When they informed me about the accusations, I saw that they were all false and lies. Unfortunately, the actions of employees and supervisors who feel powerful through the use of force and pressure are so superficial that even the regulations of the Islamic Republic are mocked by their actions. The charges against me were truly ridiculous, such as encouraging students to unveil, encouraging students to hold illegal gatherings, and engaging in actions against the interests of the system, and so on. I requested evidence, but they had none. I have been protesting against the wrong policies of the university and academia for 30 years and have been vocal about reforming the university, especially in the field of music. I have fought against the system and administrative and managerial factors of the university, and now I am facing these ridiculous and baseless accusations? As a result of this meeting, they have repeatedly asked me to come back, but it was just to intimidate

Do you think some professors’ silence in universities is for the sake of preserving themselves, under the pretense of continuing the path of enlightenment?

“Struggle for freedom requires proper strategies, and I believe that for many of us, professors and members of the academic community in Iranian universities who have witnessed years of wrong policies suppressing universities and problems, we must be able to recognize at the right time what actions to take and show our strength to be effective in that political-social period in line with the demands of the Iranian people. The Mehssa uprising marked a new chapter in a historical confrontation that had been created between the Islamic Republic and the university since the revolution, and more importantly, it brought a series of new challenges to Iranian society. Therefore, I believe that with the achievements of the people during the Mehssa uprising and the clarification of the people’s demands and the publicization of their requests at all levels of society, there is no other way for us but to move forward. On the other hand, the repressive behavior and security policies of the government against the people have become completely evident, unfortunately acting against the people’s wishes in all

Which group of university professors has the ability to support protesting students?

In my opinion, we should have lower expectations from some professors who have just started their work at the university, but it turned out to be the opposite and we saw more support from contract and invited professors in supporting students, which showed their complete courage. I had higher expectations from full-time faculty members and senior professors who are associate professors and professors. In fact, this issue became more prominent in the music group after I published statements in support of the student uprising and the group protested against me for doing it alone and they also wanted to participate in the statement. But in my opinion, senior professors who have been in the faculties for years should have taken action in issuing statements. In my opinion, we should not have had high expectations from young professors. But unfortunately, it was shown that official and senior professors are only thinking about their own interests and despite receiving support according to employment laws, most of them refused to take a clear position and acted conservatively, which shows that most of them are part of

How do you evaluate the level of suppression that occurred at the university during the uprising of Mahsa?

In this regard, I believe that there is still a lot of information that will be revealed to us in the future, as undoubtedly a significant portion of information has remained untold due to problems that could have caused trouble for individuals in the university. However, a part of this information that has been made clear to all of us shows that there has been unprecedented pressure on the student body. Essentially, the Mehdi uprising opened a new chapter for people’s struggle at every level, and the university was not exempt from this. In fact, the daily attacks by plainclothes forces, arrests, bans on entering and depriving students of dormitories were unprecedented. The heavy sentences issued by disciplinary committees for students and summoning groups of students to disciplinary committees, along with arbitrary arrests on and off campus and in students’ homes and dormitories, were unprecedented and had not been seen in such a terrible extent before. Therefore, I believe that students were the ones who suffered the most damage among various groups in

What do you think is the goal of the struggle of professors and students in universities? Structural reforms or achieving a new order?

I think that many people, by distinguishing between these two issues, are hiding the reality and on the other hand, they are simplifying the necessity of transformation, change, and explanation of proper foundations for the future of universities and higher education in Iran. Therefore, I have to ask what is the ideal of students… Is it possible to have structural reforms in universities in the Islamic Republic? The independence of the university has a specific and scientific meaning. In fact, the first role of the university is to act as a small example of a democratic society. Nowadays, schools should also be a small example of a democratic society, but we say that the university, as an example of a specialized society, has red lines in various scientific fields that cannot be changed by any political ideology. So, first and foremost, the university should provide a platform for individuals to move towards scientific progress while developing their social and civic personalities, and individuals should be able to experience such a democratic space. After that, the university

Unfortunately, the higher education system, in these forty years, with its foundation of thinking that began with the Cultural Revolution and is still being influenced and determining the trends and policies in the university system by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, in addition to the fact that we know that security institutions, the Ministry of Interior, and the National Security Council also officially interfere in universities; these events and management methods have caused many incidents to occur during these recent forty years. The body of higher education is currently in the hands of those in charge. There are very few professors who, for various reasons, have been able to maintain their continuity if they have a different way of thinking from the government. It is clear that dependence on non-principled and reformist political parties in universities is not accepted at all. After the ninth government, reformist professors were under a lot of pressure and some of them were forced into retirement with changes in retirement policies. These professors, especially during the uprising, became eloquent

The Islamic Republic and its officials, as defined by all scientific processes and international definitions, have their own unique definition of university independence. For example, Dr. Maghimi, who was recently removed from the presidency of Tehran University, had stated that the recent events have closed the door to university independence. In a meeting with him, I emphasized the sovereignty of the university, and Mr. Maghimi became angry at this truth. They defined university independence solely in financial terms, while our goal is to manage the university through a board of trustees.

What do you think about the recent statements of the President?

Mr. President has said many beautiful words until today, but what is the distance between words and actions, has been an abnormal experience for all of us in the Islamic Republic. Dr. Sheiva and Dr. Delneshin have said that we are dealing with humans, not machines, and we must recognize the human and because we are dealing with humans, we have a duty to move forward with human calmness. Preserving human dignity! So the student and the professor must be recognized. These are all very good words that he has mentioned, but we must not forget that the executive authorities in a government, meaning those who hold the executive power of a system, cannot speak philosophical words, but the President, ministers, heads and deputies must be able to implement these beautiful words in practice through regulations, administrative and executive rules, cultural organizations and institutions. I do not think this will happen easily, because without free, diverse, human-friendly and national thinking, we cannot make policies in executive campaigns

Thank you for giving your time to the peace line.