University of Arkansas Fires Tenured Professor Who Praised Ali Khamenei and Defended the IRGC
Shirin Saeidi was terminated from her position four months after suspension over posts praising former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, defending the IRGC, and misusing university letterhead.
University of Arkansas System President Jay Silveria terminated tenured associate professor Shirin Saeidi on March 30, overruling a unanimous faculty committee recommendation to reinstate her. The decision came four months after Saeidi was initially suspended for social media posts praising Iranian former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and defending the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as allegations she improperly used university letterhead to support a convicted Iranian war criminal.
From IRGC Defense to Suspension
The controversy erupted in November 2025 when Saeidi, then director of the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies, posted statements defending the IRGC and offering prayers for Khamenei’s protection. In one post, she wrote: “The leader who kept Iran intact during the Israeli attack, May god protect you.”
Earlier that year, university officials discovered Saeidi had used university letterhead to campaign for the release of Hamid Nouri, who was convicted by a Swedish court in 2022 of war crimes and murder for his role in the 1988 mass executions of political prisoners in Iran.
President Overrules Unanimous Faculty Decision
Despite the committee’s recommendation to reinstate Saeidi, Silveria rejected the findings and moved forward with termination. In his written response, he expressed concern that the university could “suffer a reduction or elimination of funding under Ark. Code Ann. 6-16-2004 if its responses to antisemitism are determined to be inadequate.”
Act 721 of 2025 requires Arkansas public institutions to investigate complaints and comply with monitoring and reporting requirements. It also says the General Assembly is encouraged to consider reducing or eliminating state funding for institutions found to have responded inadequately to discrimination and harassment complaints.
Accountability for Faculty Conduct
The case follows other instances of Arkansas universities taking action against faculty for statements supporting violence or designated terrorist organizations. In 2025, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock dismissed a law professor for posts comparing Kirk mourners to the KKK and calling him an "evil person."
In Saeidi’s case, Iranian-American activists, including the group AAIRIA, had previously called for her dismissal over her defense of the IRGC and support for regime officials.