BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom
The BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom was set up to monitor and defend academic freedom in the research, study and teaching of Middle East Studies in the UK and anywhere in the world, including in academic institutions in the Middle East and North Africa.
To learn more about how the committee works, please see the Terms of Reference.
The current Chair of the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom is Lewis Turner (Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Newcastle University).
Latest Statement/Letter
The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) Committee on Academic Freedom expresses deep concern over the ongoing detention of Iranian scholar and civil rights activist Mr Yashar Darolshafa, who was violently arrested on 1 June 2026 at his residence in Tehran and is currently detained in an unknown location. We understand that his belongings have been confiscated and that, at the time of writing, the Iranian authorities have provided no reasons for his detention.
Mr Darolshafa is a well-known progressive social researcher, currently registered as a PhD student at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences of Tehran. Mr Darolshafa was previously arrested in 2009, 2019, and 2022. He has always demonstrated an interest in social justice and the defence of equal rights, in his work as both a scholar and a public intellectual. He is also a member of the Pedagogy Committee of the Iranian Sociological Association. There appears to be no basis for his arrest other than his academic work and writings on sociology and policy analysis. His detention therefore represents a grave violation of academic freedom.
27 July 2026
Previous Statements
Please find here the list of statements published by the Committee on Academic Freedom.
Previous Letters
Please find here the list of public letters published by the Committee on Academic Freedom.
Database of Expertise
The Database of Expertise in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies provides a publicly available list of MENA experts with their research and areas of expertise.
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