On January 29, 2024, Mohsen Khalili announced that Ferdowsi University of Mashhad had dismissed him from his teaching position after 18 years of teaching at the university.

Khalili’s dismissal has widely been reported in the context of a broader trend of punitive actions taken against professors who have shown support for protesters. Notable examples include Mostafa Azarakhshi, a professor of theology at Beheshti University (see report), Hassan Bagherinia, a former professor of psychology and educational sciences at Hakim Sabzevari University (see report), and Alireza Azad, a professor of theology at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (see report), all of whom have faced forced retirement or dismissal in recent months.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the dismissal of a scholar in apparent retaliation for exercising his right to freedom of expression–conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party. Higher education authorities have a responsibility not to interfere with expressive activity, so long as that activity is undertaken peacefully and responsibly. Dismissals aimed at limiting such expressive activity harms academic freedom and related higher education values including autonomy and social responsibility.

Sources:
https://ir.voanews.com/a/dismissal-of-25-humanities-professors-of-tehran-university-in-two-years/7477381.html
https://www.iranintl.com/202409158610
https://www.sedayemardom.net/?p=132367
https://www.en-hrana.org/tag/mohsen-khalili/
https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2024/04/08/profiles-of-dismissed-iranian-academics#_Toc160878849, (#71).