Dr. Shirin Saeidi, the Director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, actively praised the current Iranian regime, opposing the United States government’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
Saeidi shared several posts in November 2025 praising and supporting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“The leader who kept Iran intact during the Israeli attack, May god protect you and the Iranian people from the Israeli regime,” followed by “goodbye, my friend” in Farsi. Saeidi has not only expressed support for the regime but told international outlet Iran International that they were labeled as a terrorist organization.
This has caused various Iranian activists to criticize her framing Khameini as a “protector of Iran” due to persecution in their country that remains. Iranian-Americans and activists alike began circulating her statements on social media.
These posts have prompted calls for her dismissal as well as other investigations into violations within her post at the university.
Iranian activist Sana Ebrahimi was one of many to respond to Saeidi openly stating that she followed the rules of the Islamic Republic should raise alarm bells. “Read that again: a US professor taking her cues from a foreign terrorist dictatorship about which news outlets are ‘allowed,’ her post read. “This is beyond alarming.”
Authoritarians exporting censorship, paranoia to West
“This is how authoritarian regimes export their censorship and paranoia into Western institutions through people who normalize their blacklists and punishments,” she wrote on X. “These are the people shaping what your kids see as “legitimate” news and “acceptable” thought. That should terrify everyone who cares about free speech, academic integrity, and basic national sanity.”
The University of Arkansas has not yet announced any disciplinary action against Saeidi, who has previously attempted to invoke academic freedom in response to criticism.
Families of victims of state-sponsored violence from Iran have also vocally criticized Saeidi. This included Gazelle Sharmahd, whose German-Iranian father, Jamshid Sharmahd, was executed by the Iranian regime on October 28, 2024, after what was criticized and condemned as a trial for show, has been very vocal against the pro-regime statements.