Wave of resignations of professors at Iranian universities or their refusal to attend classes

Following the protests and strikes by university students across Iran, a number of university professors joined the protesting students by refusing to attend classes, and some also resigned.

One of the first professors was Lili Golehdaran, a member of the faculty of the Department of Drama at Shiraz University of Art, who resigned from her position by publishing a letter in support of the protests of the people and students.

In this letter, he wrote in response to the demands of protesting students, who had repeatedly called on university professors to join them in recent days: "The faculty members of every university, except for a very few, are all Basij members."

In recent days, students at universities in Tehran and other cities in Iran have repeatedly chanted the slogan "The streets are covered in blood, our professors are choked with blood" during their protest rallies and marches.

Also, Ammar Ashuri, a professor at the Faculty of Art and Architecture at Tehran Azad University, resigned from his position in support of the popular protests.

He wrote that in recent days he has been pressured and threatened by the security of the Faculty of Arts due to posts and stories he posted on Instagram.

Gholamreza Shahbazi, a professor of drama at the Universities of Arts and Soure, also resigned from his position in a letter in support of the protests of the people and students.

Farshad Asgarikia, a professor of cinema and photography at Soure University, also announced in a text that he would not attend classes.

"Right now, being in the classroom is like dipping bread in blood and shoving it down my throat. I can't eat this bread," he wrote.

Alireza Bahreini, Shahram Khazaei, and Azin Movahed, professors at Sharif University, also announced that they would close their classrooms in support of the nationwide student strike.

On Monday, union activists at the University of Tehran issued a statement confirming that some university professors have joined the student strike.

Simultaneously with the start of the student strike on Monday, protest rallies were held at some universities, including Tarbiat Modares in Tehran, Chamran in Ahvaz, Isfahan University of Technology, and the Faculty of Dentistry in Tabriz.

Protesting students have announced that they will refuse to attend classes until the security clashes with students, the arrest of protesting students, and the transition to virtual education are ended.

This is while the arrest of protesting students by security forces continues, and the number of arrested students is increasing every day.

Also, with the increase in protest gatherings at universities, university officials decided to change classes from in-person to virtual, under the pretext of "considering the well-being of non-native students," so that universities would be deserted.

Source: Radio Farda