Last updated:

November 6, 2024

Conversation with Dr. Azin Moheb, Professor of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran / Nafiseh Sharafaldini

During the Mihssa movement, Iranian universities 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 from their homes to the streets in cities and villages. Many students and professors who sought to join the people were subjected to severe suppression by security institutions and university officials, and were suspended, exiled, or expelled. Among the many professors who were expelled from the university, “Azin Moheb” 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 to fulfill the demands of the people and students.

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 protests in the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement at the university take shape?

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 this uprising, where were the respected professors? And now, on the continuation of 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 foreign countries? Where are the lawyers who have strange and peculiar contracts with the people and all of them, while 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 was successful in silencing the people’s movement

 

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

At the campus of fine arts, I have not heard of any changes. At least in my case, where I believe I am the only suspended professor in the music department of the faculty of fine arts, there have been no changes or improvements. Of course, my suspension was initiated from the beginning through illegal institutions and solely for the purpose of intimidation and pressure on me. It all started with my stance and support for the protesting students, and it happened spontaneously. My support was not limited to just participating in the protests. I was truly worried about the students who were being arrested in front of the university gate or being imprisoned in the disciplinary committee’s room for no reason, or the students who were unjustly summoned to the disciplinary committee for the sake of intimidation and pressure.

 

Can you give some examples of inappropriate encounters that have happened with students both on and off campus?

One or two times, it was brought to my attention that a student was being harassed in front of the entrance door. 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. In one instance, when I went, Bahman told me that the situation was not good and it would be better if I didn’t personally get involved. He suggested that I follow up through the monitoring group. I immediately went to the music group and spoke with 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 when a large group of students were gathered during the first days, while they were leaving the university campus and were being taken to a minibus parked next to the university

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

The issue of cutting off my rights, at first, was simply for intimidation. This action, according to the regulations, is completely illegal and no one in the university has the right to cut off the rights of a university professor. In these regulations, it is stated that if a violation occurs, first a verbal warning must be given, and 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 professor for a disciplinary hearing. Even in these circumstances, in the regulations belonging to the Ministry of Science of the Islamic Republic, cutting off rights is only allowed up to one-third of the amount and under no circumstances should the professor’s rights be completely cut off. Ultimately, if the professor is expelled after legal proceedings, their rights will be cut off

After my salary was cut for a while, they finally formed a complaint file against me. When they informed me of the accusations, I saw that they were all false and lies. Unfortunately, the actions of employees and supervisors who feel powerful through force and pressure are so superficial that even the regulations of the Islamic Republic are being mocked in their actions. My case of violations was truly laughable, for example, accusations such as encouraging students to unveil, encouraging students to hold illegal gatherings, and behaviors against the interests of the system were brought up. I requested evidence and they had none. I have been protesting against the wrong policies of the university and academia for 30 years and have been vocal in reforming the university’s processes, especially in the field of music. I have fought against the system and administrative and managerial factors of the university, and now these ridiculous and baseless accusations? As a result of this meeting, they asked me several times and it was only for the purpose of intimidation. For

 

Do you think some professors’ silence in the university is to protect themselves, under the pretext of continuing their path of enlightenment?

“Struggle for freedom requires proper strategies, and I believe that for many of us professors and faculty members in Iranian universities who have witnessed years of wrong policies suppressing universities and problems, it is necessary to be able to recognize at the right time what actions to take and show our power to be effective in that political-social period towards the demands of the Iranian people for freedom. The Mehssa uprising marked a new chapter in a historical conflict that had been created between the Islamic Republic and the university since the beginning of the revolution, and more importantly, it brought 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 desires at all levels of society, there is no 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 clear, unfortunately acting against the people’s wishes in all policies. This is

 

Which group of university professors have 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 students’ 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 the lead in giving 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 concerned with their own interests and despite receiving support according to employment laws, most of them refused to take a clear stance and acted conservatively, which shows that most of them are

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

In this regard, I think there is still room for a lot of information to be revealed in the future, because without a doubt, a large 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 apparent 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 to fight at all levels, and the university was not exempt from this. In fact, the daily attacks by plainclothes forces, arrests, bans on entry, and deprivation of students from dormitories were unprecedented events. The heavy sentences issued by disciplinary committees for students, as well as the summoning of groups of students to disciplinary committees, in addition to arbitrary arrests on and off campus and in students’ homes and dormitories, were so widespread that they had never been seen before in such a horrific manner. Therefore, I think students were the

 

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

I think that many people, by distinguishing between these two issues, hide the reality and on the other hand, they simplify the need for transformation, change, and clarification of the 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 clear and scientific meaning. In fact, the primary role of the university is to serve 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 different scientific fields that cannot be changed by any political ideology. So, first and foremost, the university should be a platform for individuals to move towards scientific progress while developing their social and civic personality, and individuals should be able to experience such a democratic space. After that, the university is a

Unfortunately, the higher education system in the past forty years, with its foundation of thinking that was initiated by the Cultural Revolution and is still being influenced and determining the direction and policies of the university system by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, in addition to the fact that we know 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 past 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. Clearly, dependence on non-principled and reformist political parties is not accepted in universities. After the ninth government, reformist professors were under a lot of pressure, and some of them were forced into retirement through changes in retirement policies. These professors, especially during the uprising, became more outspoken and eloquent

The Islamic Republic and its officials and managers, as defined by all scientific processes and international definitions, have their own unique definition of university independence. For example, Dr. Moghimi, who was recently removed from the presidency of Tehran University, had stated that the events of the uprising had closed the door to university independence. In a meeting I had with him, I emphasized the sovereignty of the university and Mr. Moghimi became angry at hiding this truth. They defined the purpose of university independence solely in financial terms, while our goal is to manage the university as 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 humans and because we are dealing with humans, we have a duty to move forward with human tranquility. 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, organizational culture 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 for

 

Thank you for giving your time to the peace line.

Created By: Nafiseh Sharafaldini
September 22, 2024

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Azin Mohadd Expelled professors Mahsa Movement Masoud Pazhakian Nafiseh Sharafaldini 2 National unity Palpitations peace line Peace Treaty 161 Student movement Suppression Suppression of students Woman, freedom of life ماهنامه خط صلح