University of Arkansas in US fires Iranian professor over support for Iran, Palestine
The University of Arkansas in the United States has dismissed an Iranian professor from her position as director of the Middle Eastern Studies department over her social media posts in solidarity with Iran and Palestine.
Speaking to The New York Post newspaper on Friday, a spokesman for the University of Arkansas announced the suspension of Shirin Saeidi from the Middle East Studies program, adding, however, that she still retains her position as a political science professor at the school.
The measure, which raises serious concerns about academic free speech, came after the university came under pressure from anti-Iran figures and the Zionist lobby.
In several X posts in November, the professor praised Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and offered prayers for his safety.
She also hailed Ayatollah Khamenei as “the leader who kept Iran intact during the Israeli attack,” referring to the illegal US-backed aggression against the country in June.
In separate posts on X, she condemned Israel as a “terrorist” and a “genocidal” regime.
The University also claims that Saeidi used the school’s letterhead to appeal for the release of Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian judiciary official who was illegally imprisoned in Sweden between 2019-24 on politically motivated charges.
The spokesman said the university is investigating the issue “in accordance with university policies.”
Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to the Israeli regime, has also attacked Saeidi for her pro-Palestine stance, claiming the professor “would probably be better suited to being given a one-way ticket to Tehran.”
In March, an Iranian scholar at Yale Law School was fired for her outspoken criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Helyeh Doutaghi condemned the move as a normalization of “fascistic governance” at top universities in the US.
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