Tehran Confirms Iraq Removed 27 Iranian Universities From Certification
Iran has confirmed that the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education has removed 27 Iranian universities from its list of recognized universities.
Iran has confirmed that the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education has removed 27 Iranian universities from its list of recognized universities.
Hashem Dadashpur, a deputy of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, said on Saturday that "In this academic year, Iraq has adopted strict conditions in its evaluation system."
The list is for Iraqi students who want to continue their studies abroad on government’s scholarships.
He explained that the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education used Times Higher Education World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, and Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities to evaluate foreign universities, which led to the omission of some Iranian institutions.
Dadashpur said the decision is not specifically related to Iranian universities and many universities from Belarus, Jordan and Lebanon are also removed from the list, noting that 14 Iranian universities are still in the list.
According to him, currently 56,000 Iraqi students are studying in Iranian universities.
Several of the Iranian universities are institutions established after the 1979 revolution to promote Shiite Islamic ideology.
In recent years, numerous reports have been published about the decline in the quality of education in Iranian universities, which has led to the migration of elite students from the country.
In short reports, websites affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard said Tajzadeh was arrested on charges of “assembly and collusion against state security,” an accusation routinely used to jail all opponents and even those who are considered generally loyal to the principle of having an Islamic Republic.
Tajzadeh was deputy-interior minister during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami in 2000s and had become an outspoken critic of policies pursued by dominating hardliners in Iran in recent years. He spent seven years in prison after months of nationwide protests to the results of 2009 presidential elections reinstating Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a second term.
But in the past three years, Tajzadeh became increasingly vocal against the hardliners and even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. From his public comments it was apparent that he remained loyal to the concept of an Islamic Republic but otherwise criticized almost every aspect of the political system Khamenei has nurtured.
In recent days, Tajzadeh vehemently opposed the increasingly harsh methods to enforce hijab in his tweets. In March he opposed the government's policy of not condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
"Iranians still remember the bitter experience of Saddam Hussain's war (1980s) and his aggression against Iran, a neighboring country. For this, Iranians condemn the military attack" on Ukraine, he tweeted in March.
Late Friday, the government’s official news website IRNA announced that two film directors, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Alehahmad have also been arrested. They were signatories of a collective statement titles “Lay down the gun” issued by more than 100 film industry personalities in the end of May calling on military and security forces who “have become tools for cracking down on the people,” not to suppress protesters who simply want their basic rights.
Dozens of Rasoulof’s films have won international awards and he is known as an independent filmmaker, who spent one year in prison for filming without a permit from the censors of Iran’s clerical regime.
After the public statement by filmmakers, Rasoulof wrote on his Instagram page that security forces were calling signatories asking them to renounce their signatures or give interviews to state media discrediting the statement.
Some Iranian activists tweeted on Friday and Saturday that Tajzadeh’s arrest puts an end to any notion that even loyal reformists would be allowed to exist in Iran.
Mehdi Nasiri, a regime insider who was once the editor of the conservative flagship, Kayhan Daily tweeted, “Mostafa Tajzadeh’s arrest…who was still defending reforms and opposing political violence for regime change, only means that the rulers are not able to discern their own interests, or those of the people and Iran.”
