The Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies expresses its grief over the tragic death of Ms. Mahsa Zhina Amini, age 22, who died in police custody in Tehran on September 16 after having been arrested by the morality police. Following Ms. Amini’s wrongful death, massive protests against the imposition of compulsory hijab and calls for the abolition of the morality police have spread throughout the country. Mass arrests and the deaths of many protestors have resulted from brutal crackdowns by the security forces. We ask the government of Iran to respect the right of its own citizens to peaceful protests and to desist from violent suppression and persecution of demonstrators. We will do our best during the upcoming weeks to offer our platform to scholars for expressing their views and analyses as events unfold in Iran. We sincerely hope that the demands of protesters in Iran be heard by the Iranian government and that they be treated by the security forces with dignity and respect.

Please read the Association for Iranian Studies Committee on Academic Freedom's statement in solidarity with the Iranian academics’ petition in response to the unfolding events in Iran

Also, please find AIS-CAF's statement in support of students at Sharif University of Technology endorsed by AIS and the Middle East Studies Association.