The Association of Iranian Studies Committee on Academic Freedom on Friday urged top Tehran’s officials to drop charges against five independent scholars, calling it a politically motivated move.
“We express our deep concern over the Iranian government’s ongoing violations of academic freedom, particularly in light of the recent politically motivated arrests and detentions of independent scholars,” the group wrote.
The open letter was addressed to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei.
The AIS was referring to a recent crackdown on leftist academics Parviz Sedaghat, sociologist Mahsa Asadollahnejad, writer Shirin Karimi, economist Mohammad Maljoo, and scholar Heyman Rahimi.
“All face national security charges over their intellectual work. Sedaghat, Asadollahnejad, and Karimi were released on bail November 12, but charges persist; Maljoo and Rahimi face ongoing interrogations,” the group said.
"We are profoundly concerned by this latest violation of basic rights of citizenship and scholarly independence," the letter said. "We... consider it a clear violation of their fundamental right to academic freedom."
The group called on Iran to drop all charges, allow academic freedom and respect the UN human rights charter.
'Crackdown campaign'
AIS, founded in 1967, represents global experts on Iran and advocates for free scholarly exchange.
The arrests have drawn wider condemnation. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for the immediate release of Sedaghat and other detained scholars, while PEN America denounced Iran’s “escalating campaign against freedom of expression.”
Human rights groups have described the arrests and summonses as part of a broader campaign of arrests meant to stifle public debate following Iran’s 12-day June war with Israel.
In an article published three weeks after the June war, Sedeghat had written that despite the ceasefire with Israel, “we continue to live within the same rhetoric, the same confrontational tone.”
He warned that Iran’s economy “has been caught in structural blockage” and that without political reform, the country is headed "toward systemic collapse.”
