While the universities themselves have not linked the expulsions to the protests, a number of users online, former officials and local media on different sides of the political spectrum have made the connection. Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the ultraconservative Keyhan newspaper, whom Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed, defended the expulsions in an editorial this week by listing professors who have been expelled in the West for political reasons. Academics “who had not only supported riots and rioters last year but had also in some cases participated in crimes against the wronged people of Iran alongside rioting thugs” were given, he said, “the most trivial punishment, considering their foul and inhumane actions”.
