As nationwide protests in Iran?began their third week, academics predicted the regime?would crack down harder on opposition in universities, with more ¡°purges¡± in store for faculty and students.

More than 200 Iranian universities had gone on strike as of 29 September,?the Center for Human Rights in Iran , as part of?the largest?anti-government demonstrations the country had seen since 2009.?On social media, participants shared of students staging walkouts to demand the release of detained protesters.

Anger has flared since 16 September?when a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died in custody after failing to correctly wear a headdress required by Iran¡¯s ¡°morality police¡±.

Academics said that, while it was unclear how long protesters would maintain the upper hand, the regime would retaliate against students and faculty at the first opportunity.

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Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, a US-based non-profit organisation, predicted that universities¡¯ vocal opposition to the government would trigger a fresh wave of ¡°firings, expulsions and purifying [of] policies to ensure adherence to the Islamic Republic¡¯s revolutionary ethos¡±.

He said that for years, the regime has used various bodies ¨C including the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Iran¡¯s Ministry of Science and its Ministry of Health and Medical Education ¨C to control its education sector.

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¡°While there is no doubt of dissent in the ranks of Iran¡¯s universities and that this will continue to simmer, Tehran will use this labyrinthine system of control over the universities to purge and solidify its hold,¡± he said.

Afshin Ellian, a Dutch-Iranian professor of law and head of the department of jurisprudence at Leiden University in the Netherlands, agreed. ¡°If the government sees the opportunity, many will be fired,¡± he said of faculty.

He noted that already, students¡¯ resistance is proving ¡°very threatening for the regime¡±, as it did during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which led to the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Professor Ellian predicted that opposition would continue to mount for some time before Iran¡¯s Revolutionary Guards could carry out more repressive measures.

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¡°Right now, they have no control over the protesters and the street,¡± he said. ¡°Every day we see more universities wanting to strike¡­the key question is whether high schools will also join the strikes in the coming days.¡±

Mehdi Noorbaksh, professor of international affairs and business at Harrisburg University, said that even if daily life resumes on Iran¡¯s campuses, their role as a key source of opposition to the government will not stop.

¡°The universities will open, but unrest will continue in different shapes and manners,¡± he predicted. ?

He noted that media have ?instances of professors publicly asking for the release of the students or?allowing students to abandon required?uniform in class ¨C acts of defiance?that are not yet widespread but are ¡°gaining momentum¡±.

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Professor Noorbaksh said that while attempts to suppress scholars have seen them lose employment, they have not silenced outspoken critics of the regime ¡°beyond the walls of universities¡± or lessened their influence on students, noting examples such as philosopher Bijan Abdolkarimi, whose dismissal last year triggered outcry.

Ali Ansari, a professor of history at the University of St Andrews who studies the development of the Iranian state, cautioned that within universities, there are likely to be ¡°divisions of opinion¡± between?academics ¨C who generally support students ¨C and administrators backing the regime.

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Still, he agreed that stanching the protests?would prove challenging. ¡°At the end of the day, controlling what students will do will be difficult if sufficient numbers are angry,¡± he said.

pola.lem@timeshighereducation.com