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Focuses on the state of academic freedom in Iran. Professor of Persian studies at the University of Pennsylvania archaeology museum, Brian Spooner's study tours in Iran for graduate students; Reformers' pledged to allow satellite television in homes and to permit open debate of social and religious issues; Iranian president Mohammad Khatami's call for closer cultural ties with the United States.

Announces that more academic freedom is expected in Iran under the country's new president, Hojatolislam Muhammad Khatami. Why he is seen as a liberal within the context of Iranian politics; Hopes by Iranian academics that the new president will permit them to publicly express a wider range of ideas than what has been possible since 1979.

The article reports that Middle East scholars are protesting the arrest of Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, by Iranian authorities in Iran. American scholars fear that the move could lead to the isolation of intellectuals in the Islamic Republic. The Iranian government arrested her because the country's Intelligence Ministry believed that she was seeking to promote a "soft" revolution against the Islamic government.

The article discusses how tensions between the United States and Iran are creating some problems between the two countries' scholarly endeavors. The article explains that the American Chemical Society decided to reverse a decision it made to expel its members in Iran. According to the article the 36 Iranian members will instead be denied two benefits, which include the group's career development service, and reduced-price admission to the society's twice yearly national meetings. The article also reports that Haleh Esfandiari, a prominent Iranian-American academic, was imprisoned in Tehran, Iraq, for making what the Iran government called "false confessions." Esfandiari was interrogated by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence after she applied for replacement Iranian travel documents.

This article reports that dozens of Iranian professors and alumni en route to a university reunion in California had their visas revoked after they landed in the United States in August 2006, and then were sent back home, according to news reports and a participant who attended the weekend gathering. Graduates and faculty members of Sharif University of Technology, a prestigious institution in Iran, held the reunion in Santa Clara, California. Attending the event were about 600 participants, most of whom were U.S. residents.

The article reports that the decision of the University of Tehran to retire several of its faculty members has raised political concerns. Academics critical of the government claim the dismissals appear to be part of creeping efforts by the authorities to assert their control over the officially autonomous universities. June 2006 marked the one-year anniversary of the surprise election of a hard-liner, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as Iran's president.

The article reports that the president of Tehran University of Tehran, Iran, was abruptly replaced by conservative cleric Abbasali Amid Zanjani. The move at Iran's leading university prompted student protests and concerns over academic freedom. Zanjani, who is an ayatollah or senior Islamic cleric and an associate professor of Islamic law at Tehran, was named to the post by the government of Iran. The government has also replaced the heads of at least a dozen other major universities. While it is common practice for a new Iranian president to replace university leaders, critics said they were dismayed that the changes had been made so suddenly this time.

The article informs that student leader Ali Afshari of Iran has been sentenced to six years in prison for organizing student opposition to the government. The sentence was handed down at a closed hearing against Ali Afshari, a leader of the country's main pro-reform student association, known as the Office for the Consolidation of Unity. Observers said the case was an early indication of the approach toward dissent that the authorities would follow under the new Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-liner who was elected in June 2005.

Focuses on the action taken by several university faculty members in Iran in signing an appeal asking for the release of colleagues who were arrested on charges of conspiring against the Islamic regime. Reactions from college students on the matter; Implications of the arrest; Contents of the appeal.

Reports that an Iranian court sentenced journalists, academics and translators for participating in the April 2000 Berlin conference on Iran's future. Sentences given to Akbar Ganji, Fariborz Raisdana and Ali Afshari; Overview of the trial.

Reports on the United States federal government's plan to remove obstacles to academic exchanges with Iran. Many Iranian scholars as American-educated; Rapid growth of Internet access in Iran; President Mohammad Khatami's call for a dialogue between the people of Iran and the people of the United States.

Reports on an open letter calling on Iranian authorities to protect the rights of students and professors at the University of Tehran. Publication of the letter in `The New York Review of Books' on March 23, 2000; Organization of the letter by Amir Soltani, an Iranian living in Boston, Massachusetts; Educators who signed the letter.

Reports on pro-democracy student protests in Tehran, Iran. Reasons for protests; Details of the worst violence in Iran since the 1979 revolution; Comments by various parties.

Reports on the arrest of 36 Iranian professors of the Bahai Open University during a series of raids by Iranian authorities. Estimated number of homes which were raided by security officers under the direction of Iran's Ministry of Information, a government intelligence agency; Declining of the Iranian authorities in Teheran to comment on these raids; Circumstances surrounding these raids.