Sign-on Letter to President Biden Urging Support For Iranian Students Protesting Dictatorship
University faculty members across the United States – many of them Iranian professors in the diaspora – have signed this academicians’ open letter seeking President Biden’s urgent attention to the dire situation unfolding in Iranian universities. An attack on the freedom of one university communities is an attack on the freedom of all.
The full text of the letter is copied below. Signatories include 10 American Nobel laureates, one Templeton Laureate, 131 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and hundreds of awardees of prestigious medals, including the National Medal of Science, Isaac newton Medal, Pulitzer, and Fields Medal. The signatories include more than 600 Iranian-American professors. Note: This open letter and its signatories will be published in public media.
The Honorable Joseph Biden
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Biden,
University faculty members across the United States – many of them Iranian professors in the diaspora – have signed this academicians’ open letter seeking your urgent attention to a dire situation in Iranian universities. An attack on the freedom of one university communities is an attack on the freedom of all.
Since September 16th, the outbreak of the most recent uprising in Iran, demonstrations in the streets in more than 170 cities have been violently suppressed by the Iranian regime’s security forces. The repression is becoming harsher every day. At this point, hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested.
University students in Iran, supported by many of their professors, have responded by staging sit-ins on their campuses and commencing strikes, which have now spread to over 100 universities. In response, the regime’s security forces are brutally attacking the students on university campuses, and are killing or arresting the students and faculty members who do not remain silent over the regime’s killings.
According to credible sources, thousands of students have been arrested and their whereabouts are unknown. According to Amnesty International, leaked documents reveal top level orders to armed forces to “mercilessly confront” protesters.
University campuses are sacred grounds for freedom of speech and students have a right to express their dissent without fear of imprisonment and death. However, on October 2, 2022, according to multiple credible reports, repressive forces attacked the Sharif University of Technology, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the Middle East where many elite students have received their education, firing on the defenseless students, detaining dozens of them and threatening even more violence. This is appalling and totally unacceptable.
Iran has a rich history of student movements who have been at the forefront of the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and democracy, both under the dictatorship of the Shah and the current totalitarian theocracy. Under both regimes, university students have suffered significant casualties when security forces violently crushed their peaceful protests. We are writing to you to take urgent action to prevent such casualties and loss of life this time.
On October 3, 2022, in a statement on the violent crackdown in Iran, you stated, “We will continue holding Iranian officials accountable and supporting the rights of Iranians to protest freely.” This is commendable, but further tangible actions are needed. We urgently ask that you halt any and all negotiations with the Iranian regime, and prevent any sanctions relief under any pretext, directly or indirectly, until all violators of human rights in Iran are held accountable. We also ask you to recognize the universally accepted right of the Iranian people to self-defense as they seek to attain sovereignty and self-determination.
Respectfully,