University Of Arkansas Removes Antisemitic Professor From Program After Praising Iran, Remains Employed

A political science professor at the University of Arkansas has been removed from her leadership role, but still is employed, after she praised Iran’s Supreme Leader using official university letterhead, supported a man jailed for killing Iranian political prisoners and repeatedly attacked Israel, according to documents obtained by The New York Post.

University officials confirmed that Shirin Saeidi, an assistant professor of political science and now-former head of the university’s Middle East Studies program, she was removed from her position Friday, as lawmakers and Iranian dissidents called for further disciplinary action.

According to the U.S.-based Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), Saeidi used official University of Arkansas letterhead to advocate for the release of Hamid Nouri, who was convicted by a Swedish court in 2022 for ordering the execution of thousands of political prisoners at Iran’s Gohardasht Prison in 1988. AAIRIA provided copies of the correspondence to The New York Post.

Nouri, who served as assistant deputy prosecutor at Karaj Prison near Tehran, was freed last year as part of a prisoner exchange between Iran and Sweden.

In social media posts shared on X in November, Saeidi praised Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, offering prayers for his protection and writing that he is “the leader who kept Iran intact during the Israeli attack, May god protect you,” referring to the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel.

Saeidi has also referred to Israel as a “terrorist state” and a “genocidal state” in posts on X. She did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sharply criticized Saeidi in a statement to The Post.

“Whether Shirin Saeidi should be fired is a decision for the administration and the UA board. But praising the Iranian leader — who calls not only for the slaughter of Jews but also calls for the destruction of America — makes me think this deranged professor would probably be better suited to being given a one-way ticket to Tehran and taking a job of teaching in their hate-infested schools,” Huckabee said.

AAIRIA activists said they also organized a Change.org petition that collected 3,782 signatures urging the university to take action against Saeidi.

“For forty-six years, Iranians have resisted this erasure of their memories, their testimonies, and their courage,” said Lawdan Bazargan, a former political prisoner in Iran and a human rights activist.

“That is why the regime relies on ideologues and useful idiots in Western institutions to launder its image,” she said. “Dr. Saeidi’s work is part of that machinery, an academic façade built on falsified narratives to soften the truth about Iran’s prisons and the resistance that takes place inside them.”

Bazargan told The Post that the FBI contacted her in May regarding allegations involving Saeidi, prompting AAIRIA to examine her activities more closely.

Republican Arkansas State Rep. Mary Bentley said she was alarmed by the allegations.

“I can assure you that my constituents do not want their tax dollars being used to support unethical and antisemitic behavior from professors at our public universities,” Bentley said.

Iranian dissident and journalist Masih Alinejad, who lives in Brooklyn and was targeted by the Iranian regime in 2021, also condemned Saeidi and called on President Donald Trump to act against what she described as the spread of Iranian regime sympathizers.

“She regularly attacks me and other human rights activists who dare to stand up to the same dictator,” Alinejad wrote on X, referring to Saeidi.

According to AAIRIA, Saeidi also endorsed petitions against Israel in both 2023 and 2025.

“You can’t get any more antisemitic than that,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “Only a week after the horrors on Oct 7, Saeidi chose to whitewash the terrorist crimes of Hamas.”