On November 3, 2025, Iranian security forces detained economist Parviz Sedaghat in apparent retaliation for public comments that he made about the Iranian economy and government. In addition to arresting him, Iranian forces searched Sedaghat’s home and seized his electronic devices and books.
Sedaghat’s research focused on Iran’s political economy, and heedits the magazine Naghde Eqtesad Siyasi (Political Economy Review). In the months following a 12-day war between Iran and Israel that took place in June 2025, Iranian authoritarians targeted academics, journalists, and intellectuals in an attempt to censor public debate. Sedaghat’s arrest fits into this pattern. In July 2025, Sedaghat wrote critically about the impact of the war on Iran’s economy and wrote that, without political reform, the country was moving towards “systemic collapse.” More recently, he had spoken publicly about the formation of an anti-critical, anti-progressive movement in Iran and about why the state sought to repress critical voices.
Sedaghat’s arrest occurred on the same day as the arrests or disappearances of several other researchers and writers whose work focuses social justice issues, including labor rights, gender equality, and economic inequality, including Mahsa Asadollahnejad (see report), Mohammad Maljoo (see report), Shirin Karimi, and Heyman Rahimi.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arrest, detention, and prosecution of a scholar in connection to her academic research and nonviolent 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. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, such incidents have a chilling effect on academic freedom and undermine democratic society generally.
UPDATE 11/13/25: On November 12, 2025, it was reported that Sedaghat had been released on bail after serving 10 days in detention.
Sources:
https://pen.org/press-release/shocking-arrests-of-writers-in-iran/
https://iranhumanrights.org/2025/11/writers-and-scholars-arrested-and-held-incommunicado-in-iran/
https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2025/11/07/letter-to-iranian-authorities-regarding-arrests-and-harassment-of-independent-scholars
https://en.radiozamaneh.com/37358/
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202511038448
https://www.radiozamaneh.com/868527/
https://en.radiozamaneh.com/37367/
https://x.com/IranIntl_En/status/1988673554800603583