October 08, 2021
Bijan Abolkarimi, an associate professor of philosophy and an author, has been fired from Islamic Azad University in Tehran “for defending the Pahlavi monarchy,” the Mehr news agency reported September 5.
The agency later deleted its news report, but did not say it did so because the story was inaccurate. Meanwhile, other news websites in Iran reprinted the Mehr report.
Abolkarimi had taught philosophy since 2001 and written and translated several books. His main interest is in political philosophy and the historical differences between the East and the West. It is reported that in some professional gathering he had compared the Islamic Republic with the monarchy and criticized the clerical regime.
The Islamic Republic has conducted several “cleansing” operations in universities, firing professors that it has deemed not committed to the regime. The most widespread firings took place right after the 1979 revolution.
Mehr news quoted the university’s decision to fire Abolkarimi as “final.” The Islamic Azad University has not issued any comment on its decision except for that contained in the brief Mehr report.