On November 3, 2025, Iranian security forces detained sociologist Mahsa Asadollahnejad.
Asadollahnejad earned her doctorate in political sociology from Tarbiat Modares University. Her research and writing has focused on topics including the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1979 to 1989, welfare institutions, and the intersection of gender and political economy.
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. Asadollahnejad’s arrest fits into this pattern. Asadollahnejad’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 Parviz Sedaghat (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: On November 12, 2025, it was reported that Asadollahnejad had been released on bail after serving ten 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/868548/
https://en.radiozamaneh.com/37367/
https://x.com/IranIntl_En/status/1988673554800603583