The professor of artificial intelligence was a rising star at Iran’s elite Sharif University of Technology. He gained wider fame for his vocal support of the women-led insurgency that shook Iran to its foundations last year. At one point, he refused to teach until Sharif students arrested during the government’s crackdown on protesters were released.
But speaking it out came at a cost: Last week, Ali Sharifi Zarchi lost his job and became one of at least 15 academics expelled from Iranian universities in recent weeks for supporting the uprising.
The purge of academics like Mr Sharifi Zarchi is part of a wide-ranging and intensifying government crackdown ahead of the anniversary of the start of the uprising this month. In recent weeks, Iran has arrested women’s rights activists, students, ethnic minorities, an outspoken cleric, journalists, singers and relatives of protesters killed by security agents.
Security agents have contacted relatives of the victims and demanded they remain silent, a group of families said in a statement posted on Instagram, pledging: “We will resist to the end.” Amnesty International released a report last week documenting 22 instances of government harassment of families of slain protesters, including damaging the graves of their loved ones.
“The threshold of what constitutes a crime for which someone can be arrested has risen to an unexpected level,” said Tara Sepehri Far, an Iranian researcher for Human Rights Watch. “They are trying at all costs to ensure that nothing happens around the anniversary. It shows how nervous they are about the growing frustration and dissatisfaction.”
The uprising broke out after a young woman, Mahsa Amini, was arrested by the country’s feared vice squad and accused of not wearing her hijab in accordance with the law. She died in police custody on September 16. Her death sparked nationwide protests and a movement led by women and young girls for large-scale democratic change in Iran for nearly six months.
Iran’s most prominent women’s rights activist, Narges Mohammadi, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence for “spreading anti-state propaganda,” said physical violence against women in prison increased before the memorial day.
“We have seen women and girls enter prison with bruised and injured faces and bodies,” she wrote in a letter posted to Instagram on Aug. 17. The injuries included broken cheekbones, rib pain, blows to the head and bruises, she said.
A senior judiciary official, quoted by the official news media, said Iran’s enemies were plotting unrest on the anniversary and that security and intelligence agents were monitoring any activity related to dissent. He promised that the demonstrators would show no mercy.
“The justice system will deal decisively with these people,” said Sadegh Rahimi, deputy head of the judiciary, according to Iranian news media. He warned that the thousands of protesters who were arrested and released after the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, granted amnesty in February would face severe punishment if they continued to protest. “This means their sentence will be doubled and no concessions will be made to them,” he said.
Activists have called for protests to mark the anniversary of Ms Amini’s death, although it is still unclear how many people will turn out for the demonstrations. There will be a series of anniversaries in the coming months that will mark this crackdown in which at least 500 protesters, many of them teenagers and children, were killed and seven executed. Each date will renew the collective trauma and grief and carry the potential for turmoil, the activists say.
Many Iranians mourned the sudden death of a 35-year-old protester, Javad Rouhi, in prison on Thursday. Mr Rouhi was sentenced to death on charges of “leading riots” and inciting violence during the protests, but Iran’s Supreme Court overturned his sentence on appeal. The local prosecutor said he had fallen ill and the cause of death is under investigation, according to local news media. Rights groups said he was tortured in prison.
“The regime believes it must assert itself or another wave of protest will sweep through the country,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group. Mr Ghaemi said many ordinary Iranians were ready to take any opportunity to express their grievances. In August, the Shia religious ritual Ashura, attended by religious conservatives, became a new platform for anti-government protests across the country.
A popular pop singer, Mehdi Yarrahi, 42, was arrested Monday at his home in Tehran. He recently released a song praising the growing number of women in Iran who have rejected the hijab and let their hair show in a collective act of civil disobedience.
The judiciary said Mr Yarrahi had released an “illegal song” that defied the “morals and norms of an Islamic society”. Rapper Dorcci, 32, was also arrested this week after his song ‘Damn Things’ – in which he condemns abuse of power, corruption and the struggles of everyday life – went viral and has been viewed more than 20 million times.
Many young Iranians are posting videos of them dancing to the two songs and singing the lyrics to protest the artists’ arrests.
The attacks on university professors have also provoked strong reactions, even among former officials. In a meeting with former cabinet members, former President Hassan Rouhani called it “an injustice to science and the country” and said it was counterproductive. But the government defended the decision, with the Interior Ministry issuing a statement calling it “a revolutionary duty worthy of praise”.
The newspaper Etemad reported on Thursday that at least 50 teachers have been banned from teaching or forced into retirement in the past year. They had supported protests for democratic change and criticized the government’s repression of their students.
On Thursday, the computer engineering department of Sharif University of Technology issued a statement demanding that the decision to fire Mr. Sharifi Zarchi, the AI professor, be reversed. A student-led petition to reinstate him has garnered more than 6,000 signatures.
Mr. Sharifi Zarchi announced his resignation a post on social media on August 26 with a verse from a Persian poem about showing defiance in the face of harassment.
Sharif University of Technology, a magnet for Iran’s brightest minds and a recruiting ground for elite US universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was the target of a violent attack that shook Iran last October.
Ghazal, a 22-year-old art student who asked not to use her last name for fear of retaliation, said four design professors at her university had been fired and replaced by teachers who taught Islamic texts. She said the harassment of students and the firing of professors have contributed to an oppressive climate just as the academic year begins at the end of September.
“These religious professors know nothing about specialized courses. Most of us are thinking about how to leave Iran and not study here. I don’t even know if I want to finish my studies,” said Ghazal.
Many professors have reacted defiantly to the crackdown.
“We teachers cannot obey governments and be submissive,” said Ameneh Aali, a professor of psychology at Allameh Tabataba’i University. who were among the layoffs, said in an open letter on social media. Dr. Aali said she had been interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence several times in the past year. “We teachers are indebted to the people and must serve them.”
Leily Nikounazar contributed to the coverage.