A professor at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran says he has been fired from the university after he came out in support of nationwide protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Arash Reisinejad confirmed the news of his expulsion on Twitter on April 23, saying he hopes a day will come when Iranian families can again enjoy prosperity, happiness, and dignity.
Reisinejad is a graduate of Florida International University and has written articles and books on geopolitical issues in the Middle East.
In November, he wrote on his Twitter and Instagram accounts that he was pursuing the release from detention of one of his students arrested during nationwide protests in support of freedom and human rights after the death of the 22-year-old Amini, and was also trying to get the three-month suspension of another student lifted.
"What can be seen behind the 2022 protests is the emergence of a new discursive conflict in society. If in the 1970s and 1980s the conflict was between 'Compassionate Islam' and 'Revolutionary Islam,' today it is between 'Islamic and Revolutionary Iran' versus 'National and Diverse Iran.' The leading discourse has shifted from 'Islam' to 'Iran,'" he said on Twitter.
Many Iranian university professors have faced expulsion for their support of the nationwide protests, while others have already been pushed from their jobs, including several professors at the University of Art in Tehran who were ousted earlier this month.
Anger over Amini's death in September 2022 has prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets to demand more freedoms and women's rights.
Numerous protests have been held at universities, particularly in Tehran, where many students have refused to attend classes. Protesting students have chanted "Woman, life, freedom" and "Death to the dictator" at the rallies. Some female students have removed and burned their head scarves.
Universities and students have long been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran. In 1999, students protested the closure of a reformist daily, prompting a brutal raid on the dorms of Tehran University that left one student dead.
Over the years, the authorities have arrested student activists and leaders, sentencing them to prison and banning them from studying.
The activist HRANA news agency says at least 700 university students have been arrested during the recent unrest.
Many have faced sentences such as imprisonment, flogging, and dozens of students have been expelled from universities or suspended from their studies, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.