Nasser Seraj, Deputy Head of International Affairs of Iran’s Judiciary and Secretary of the High Council for Human Rights, said the dismissal of an Iranian professor from the University of Arkansas for defending the Palestinian people amounts to a new “scandal” for the United States.
According to Seraj, the removal of Iranian professors and critics of the crimes of the Israeli regime from Western universities shows that concepts such as “freedom of expression” and “academic freedom” in the West are largely superficial and do not reflect reality.
He pointed out that the case highlights a clear contradiction between the United States’ human rights claims and its actual practices, arguing that academic spaces in the West are neither independent nor neutral but are instead heavily influenced by ideological and political pressures.
Seraj added that this case is not an isolated incident, noting that similar actions against other academics demonstrate that freedom of speech and democracy in Western countries are applied selectively and are curtailed whenever views challenge dominant political positions.
The dismissed academic, an assistant professor of political science and director of Middle East studies at the University of Arkansas, was removed from her position following criticism of Israel and public support for Palestinians.
