Debate Erupts in Iran on ‘Ideologizing’ Sciences

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. (AFP)
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. (AFP)
TT
20

Debate Erupts in Iran on ‘Ideologizing’ Sciences

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. (AFP)
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. (AFP)

Debate has raged in Iran in recent days over President Hassan Rouhani’s opposition to the “ideologization” of sciences taught at universities and research centers.

Attempts have been ongoing since the 1979 Islamic revolution to introduce Islamic ideology to chemistry, physics and math courses taught at universities and research centers in the country.

Rouhani however ridiculed on Saturday such attempts, saying: “Some sides want to differentiate between religious and non-religious sciences at a time when sciences have nothing to do with ideology.”

“Some sides have been trying for years to introduce Islamic physics, chemistry, engineering and mathematics. What do they mean by that?” he wondered, while also noting the great sums that have been paid to achieve this goal.

“There were attempts in the past to establish bourgeois and socialist sciences and they failed because sciences are not linked to ideology,” he continued.

“We cannot speak today of conservative and reformist mathematics because algebra and math are universal,” he explained.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had on November 30 declared that “Islamizing” sciences was the precursor to establishing “complete control and achieving progress on a global level.”

In 2014, he demanded that radical change be introduced to human sciences. In 2017, Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Ali Jaafari underlined the need to “redefine” human sciences at universities in Iran. He explained that years after the revolution, the military aspects of the revolt should be followed up with revolutions in various fields.

Rouhani meanwhile continued his criticism on Saturday by noting that scientists and university professors in Iran had been accused of espionage for their association with foreign universities. He instead stressed the need for scientific cooperation with foreign powers.

He pointed out to the wave of arrests targeting environment researchers and activists. One detainee, environmentalist Kavous Seyed Emami, died some two weeks ago in Evin prison of an alleged suicide less than a month after his arrest, said authorities.

Rouhani said that professors and researchers should not be doubted, criticizing security agencies for detaining these figures.

Several pro-Revolutionary Guards media outlets omitted on Sunday several parts of Rouhani’s controversial speech.

The Kayhan newspaper said that the president is “veering off his main duties and delving in theoretical and intellectual debates in order to ignore the main demands of the Iranian people.”

Revolutionary Guards mouthpiece, Javan newspaper, attacked Rouhani for getting involved in a “religious philosophical discussion that is not associated with his duties.” It said that he is committing the mistakes of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, “who opted for theoretical debates during his second term in office.”

Ahmedinejad’s government had implemented its policy of “Iranian Islam” on human sciences and curricula in the country. The policy led to the sacking of several human and social science professors from Iranian universities.



Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
TT
20

Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS

Greece's government said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete, following a spike in arrivals from Libya.

More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.

Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government also planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.

“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told parliament Wednesday. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that ... it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”

According to The Associated Press, the suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said. “The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.

Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said.