Political Dismissal of Another Faculty Member

Rahmatollah Bastani, a 51-year-old professor at Sistan and Baluchistan University was dismissed from his position. Bastani taught theology and Qoranic Studies for 21 years. He was arrested in Qom on 28 March during a funeral ceremony for Ayatollah Montazeri’s wife, and was imprisoned in solitary confinement for nine days. He was released on a $60,000 bail. Parleman News Web site has reported Mr. Bastani’s dismissal.

After the 5 April dismissal of Morteza Mardiha, a professor at Allameh Tabatabaee University, two other professors were dismissed from Elm-o-San’at University. The dismissals are a part of a new trend of eliminating those faculty members who have different viewpoints than those of the government’s, or who supported students during student protests. Seyed Ali Asghar Beheshti and Mohammad Shahri, two Elm-o-San’at professors, received their release letters following a speech by Iran’s Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, demanding ideological compatibility of professors.