<p>An Iranian exile group allegedly collaborated with university officials and a state lawmaker in Arkansas to secure the dismissal of an Iranian American professor, according to a recent lawsuit.</p>
<p>Shirin Saeidi, a tenured professor of political science at the University of Arkansas, was removed from her position as the director of the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies in December due to social media posts critical of Israel. This action was criticized by a national free-speech organization in a letter to the university.</p>
<p>Despite a unanimous recommendation from a faculty committee for her reinstatement, Saeidi was terminated in March, a decision that was upheld in May following her appeal.</p>
<p>The dismissal followed a campaign by the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists, an Iranian American group opposed to the Iranian government.</p>
<p>The group accused Saeidi of working on behalf of the Iranian government and alleged plagiarism in her doctoral dissertation from Cambridge University, both of which Saeidi has denied.</p>
<p>“When someone tries to take everything from you, and your identity, your scholarship, your entire labor of your adult life through framing you and lying to the media — it works,” Saeidi stated. “It makes people doubt you, and this is the big issue with defamation. So it’s been shocking to experience it, but I was not surprised.”</p>
<p>The lawsuit, which includes 15 counts, seeks to reverse Saeidi’s termination and provide her with back pay and damages. It also aims to overturn Act 721, a law signed in April 2025 by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, which permits the state to withhold public funds from any academic institution that fails to address antisemitism.</p>
<blockquote>“This law is a really good example of a limitation on free speech disguised as equal protection,” said Badria Mryyan, one of Saeidi’s attorneys.</blockquote>
<p>Mryyan added that the combination of state authority and pressure from a state senator contributed to Saeidi’s dismissal.</p>
<p>The campaign to remove Saeidi occurred amid a broader effort targeting Iranian and Iranian American academics and journalists, which has included violent threats and personal attacks against those advocating for diplomacy with Iran.</p>
<p>Leonard Bright, a professor at Texas A&M, commented, “This is a case of a person expressing their viewpoints on their own personal Twitter pages, and when an investigation was conducted to see if they violated university rules, the university employees said no.” He expressed concern that the university president’s decision to override the faculty committee’s recommendation undermines academic freedom.</p>
<p>The campaign against Saeidi was led by Lawdan Bazargan, the AAIRIA’s director. Bazargan has denied any conspiracy to secure Saeidi’s termination, stating, “I categorically deny the allegations that I defamed Dr. Shirin Saeidi or participated in any secret conspiracy.”</p>
<p>Following her dismissal, Saeidi stated that her life has been significantly affected, saying, “I had to leave Arkansas because I no longer feel safe.”</p>
<p>The lawsuit accuses Bazargan, university officials, state Senator Dan Sullivan, and pro-Israel commentator Ben Weinthal of colluding to undermine Saeidi’s free speech rights, motivated by Islamophobia and a desire to suppress pro-Palestine discourse.</p>
<p>Neither the University of Arkansas nor Senator Sullivan responded to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.</p>
<p>According to the lawsuit, Bazargan initiated her campaign against Saeidi on March 24, 2025, by filing a formal complaint with the university chancellor and later appearing on an Israeli news program to accuse Saeidi of supporting the Iranian government.</p>
<p>In the months that followed, Bazargan accused Saeidi of various misconducts, including plagiarism. Saeidi has publicly refuted these claims, emphasizing her documentation of human rights violations in her research.</p>
<p>The lawsuit alleges that Bazargan and Weinthal coordinated efforts to press the university for an investigation into Saeidi’s conduct.</p>
<p>In late 2025, the focus of the allegations shifted to antisemitism, particularly concerning Saeidi’s social media posts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Despite the university’s Title IX coordinator finding no evidence of antisemitism, Saeidi believes this shift ultimately led to her dismissal.</p>
<p>Saeidi expressed her intention to fight not only for her own rights but also for those of other academics who may face similar scrutiny for discussing controversial topics. “I don’t think that what’s been done to me can be undone,” she said, “but it’s my hope that what comes of this lawsuit is that it never happens to another academic.”</p>
<p>Following Saeidi’s termination, Bazargan has continued to publicly criticize her, which has led to further tensions between the two.</p>