Iran Has Already Begun to Infiltrate Higher Education in the West
The shamelessness with which Western academics are enhancing Iranian institutional knowledge must be addressed quickly and permanently.
The shamelessness with which Western academics are enhancing Iranian institutional knowledge must be addressed quickly and permanently.
R eports that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has begun infiltrating universities in the United Kingdom have led close observers to speculate whether U.S. universities could be next.
Unfortunately, there is already evidence that the IRGC has gained a foothold in critical research departments at multiple American, Canadian, European, and Australian universities. In fact, the flow of knowledge and expertise from Western universities to Iranian institutions is so robust that Tehran has reportedly given its military — and, by extension, the IRGC — “maximum” access to Iranian professors, researchers, and students. Yet, there appear to be no signs of concern on college campuses.
Recent investigations by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) into academic collaborations between U.S. researchers, Canadian researchers, and researchers at Iran-backed institutions, as well as a separate investigation by the U.K. newspaper Jewish Chronicle, exposed both a critical gap in the Western sanctions against Iran and a hubris that prioritizes academic freedom over Western safety and security.
Iranian entities sanctioned for their role in the development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or human-rights violations, including Iran’s Sharif University of Technology (SUT), Isfahan University, Malek Ashtar University of Defense Technology, and Aerospace Research Institute (ARI), have found a slew of Western researchers willing to help strengthen or develop Tehran’s satellite communications, power generation, and unmanned-aerial-vehicle (UAV) technologies, among other areas of research with clear military applications.
Academic leaders such as Dr. Janice Stein of the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs have shown no interest in ending research that supports the Iranian regime, while others ignore the problem or drag their feet in investigating how Western researchers were permitted to work with academics at Iranian institutions tied to Iran’s military or its nuclear program.
Clarkson University told UANI in February that it was launching an investigation into how such a collaboration was permitted. The University of Washington has similarly been investigating its academic ties to sanctioned Iranian institutions since at least April. Neither has announced or shared any of its findings.
Others, however, simply hope public scrutiny will fade away. Virginia Tech has deflected blame. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette cited technicalities in its defense. And leaders at the University of Houston and Australia’s University of New South Wales have yet to even acknowledge the evidence that its researchers are credited as co-authors alongside four researchers at the SUT on a study supporting the development of UAV technologies. Meanwhile, hundreds of Iranian drones have been supplied to the Russian military for use against civilians in Ukraine, and more have been provisioned to Iranian proxies — including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Iraqi militias, and the Houthis in Yemen.
Thankfully, some public officials outside the United States are starting to demonstrate more sound judgment.
British prime minister Rishi Sunak told parliament in June that his government “will not accept collaborations which compromise our national security,” and outlined stronger controls on academic collaborations in technology, which are overseen by the Foreign Office. His minister of state for security has also acknowledged that the “Iranian regime [is] using actions that would be more normally associated with terrorist groups,” which poses “a new form of state threat.” Canada, too, is now blocking government funding of projects that Reuters said include “researchers who are affiliated with institutions with ties to foreign governments posing a risk to national security.”
But officials in the U.S., Australia, and the EU have yet to restrict collaborations with Iran. And the shamelessness with which Western academics are enhancing Iranian institutional knowledge must be addressed quickly and permanently.
As an initial measure, universities that have supported sanctioned Iranian entities should be restricted in their ability to apply for taxpayer-funded grants, or even face revocation of their funding. Legislation should also be introduced requiring all institutions to disclose any collaborations with researchers from sanctioned countries. And to leave no doubt about what is and is not permissible, governments should establish, maintain, and vehemently enforce a restricted-university list. Collaboration with schools on the list and their researchers should be closely monitored and never receive public funding.
Authorities can no longer presume that academics are sufficiently wise to avoid enhancing the military capabilities of those that have threatened the destruction of whole nations, flaunt their disregard for international law, commit gross human-rights abuses, and lead the world in state sponsorship of terrorism. The time has come to put as much effort into restricting the availability of Western research to the Iranian regime as there has been in restricting Western goods and services.