There are tens of Iranian researchers and students working at TU/e whom bring a significant added value to the university and the host society. However, this was not the first and only article published within the past few years by Cursor fueling the fear of having Iranian students at TU/e. 

In our opinion the article unjustifiably poses the Iranian academic community as a threat, misrepresenting a white paper prepared by the governmental taskforce that investigated unwanted knowledge transfer. The white paper, while referring to the verdict of the Dutch supreme court, concludes that no careful and non-discriminatory selection of students and researchers could be made for monitoring to prohibit the risk of sensitive knowledge leakage. In a clear contrast with the article published by Cursor, the white paper states that the monitoring must apply to all current and new students, researchers and other employees in certain educational and research areas regardless of their nationality or place of birth.

Cursor as a university-based news outlet is obliged to act professionally and ethically while defying the principles of yellow journalism. The coverage frequency and the language of the news is found to be unfair, and to some extent, xenophobic, indirectly calling for discrimination based on nationality. Cursor is expected to consider the consequences of unprofessional news coverage and its effects on the communities in the university.

This letter is signed by the following group of researchers and students at TU/e: M. Hadian, A. Delparish, A. Tavanaei, A. Eghbalmanesh, A. Helmi, A. Rahimalimamaghani, H. Ahmadi, M. JouyBar, P. Rahnama, A. Fathiganjehlou, S. Mortazavi, P. Mirshafiei, A. Sanaei, A. Saravani, R. Torkzadeh, M. Saeedi Nikoo, S. Arasteh, D. Zamani, S. Pourkeivannour, S.M. Hashemipour Nazari, A. Parsa Sadr, M. Youshi, S. Siadati

Cursor wants to comment on the criticism that was uttered by Morteza Hadian and Amin Delparish in the abovementioned op-ed piece. In the recent months there has been contact with these two researchers from the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, and they were invited for an interview. They however decided to stick to publishing their op-ed piece first. The article that Cursor published in July was made by journalists of HOP, the Dutch Higher Education Press Agency. Cursor is affiliated with HOP for many years. Therefore, Cursor asked HOP to comment on this subject and you can find that comment beneath this introduction.  

The Dutch Higher Education Press Agency (HOP) has been covering the topic of knowledge embargos for several years. HOP addressed the issue of discrimination against Iranians numerous times, including in the following articles (only available in Dutch): ‘Government continues to ignore ruling Iranian students’ (Cursor, 5 July 2011); ‘Three Iranians barred from enrolling in nuclear-related study program’ (U-today, 27 February 2012) and ‘The Netherlands discriminates against Iranian scientists’ (Cursor, 14 December 2012).

In the article currently under discussion, HOP writes about the whitepaper penned by the ‘Taskforce undesirable knowledge transfer,’ which appeared in July. In this whitepaper, the Taskforce focuses on the benefits and limitations of the regulations and on the current state of knowledge security at Dutch universities. Knowledge embargos were put in place to prevent undesirable knowledge and technology transfer to Iran and North Korea. The journalists working for HOP did not impose these embargos. Their job is to report on the discussions and consequences in good conscience. HOP doesn’t take up a particular standpoint in this matter.

Perhaps the criticism leveled against the article might have something to do with the translation. HOP realizes that the article appears more alarming in English than in Dutch. In the original article, HOP writes: ‘Kunnen wetenschappers en studenten uit Iran of Noord-Korea hier kennis vergaren voor hun eigen militaire doeleinden? Universiteiten moeten misschien iets beter opletten, staat in een evaluatie.’ This phrase was translated into English as follows: ‘Are students and researchers from Iran and North Korea gaining access to scientific knowledge in the Netherlands for their own military objectives? Maybe universities need to raise their level of alert, a new whitepaper reveals.’ That is a somewhat sharper way of putting it.

The whitepaper states that since 2008, Iranian students and researchers were required to apply for an exemption ‘to prevent the leakage of knowledge that might contribute to Iran’s nuclear program or the development of nuclear weapons delivery systems in Iran.’ An action group successfully fought against this instance of discrimination on the grounds of nationality – as reported in the Cursor article of 14 December 2012. Despite the government’s resistance, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled in favor of the action group.

From that moment on, it says in the whitepaper, students and researchers of all nationalities were required to apply for an exemption within proliferation-sensitive disciplines. ‘As a result, all current and new students in certain, yet to be determined educational and research disciplines had to be checked for the risk of illegal transfer of knowledge that could contribute to Iran’s ballistic missile program,’ according to the whitepaper.

HOP concludes from this that even though the government lost the court case, it basically continues along the same lines. The only difference is that all students now have to be screened, which wouldn’t have been necessary if it were up to the government.

The issue became topical again some time later. In 2018, the government prioritized ‘the strengthening of supervision of students and researchers who might be connected to Iran’s ballistic missile program.’ HOP interprets this as a legal wording to prevent having to specifically refer to Iranian students and researchers. But HOP is no government organization and can therefore say out loud what the government prefers not to mention.

Does HOP believe that all Iranian students and researchers pose a threat? Of course not. Can this be concluded from any of HOP’s publications? Once again, no. If Iranian students feel offended by the government’s and the Taskforce’s – and not HOP’s – insinuation that they might be contributing to a program that will lead to nuclear weapons, they should raise their voice, HOP’s editorial staff believes. That is what free press is for: so that journalists can carry out their work unhindered (would the readers otherwise ever have heard of the whitepaper?), and so that others are free to voice their opinion if they’re unhappy with the news.

Hein Cuppen, general editor of HOP

Illustration above | DesignRage / Shutterstock