MUNCIE — In June of 2015, Ball State University professor Ken Holland joined a delegation of senior U.S. higher education representatives on an educational diplomacy trip to Iran.
Nine months later, a group photo of the delegation — at the center of which stands Holland — was published on the Mashregh News online website affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, above a caption reading, "Photographing with American spies in Iran."
The headline of the accompanying story was, "The hospitality of Iranian universities for top spy," a reference to the leader of the delegation. Other photographs of the group bore captions like, "A week full reception of the America's influence," "Meetings with university officials to our country infiltrators America should sound alarm bells … " and "Are the American Board of giving gifts to the University of Shiraz the real purpose of the visit to Iran?"
Now, the international news agency Reuters is reporting that such claims published by conservative media sources in Iran have hampered the initiative to increase academic cooperation between the two countries.
"The negative press reports have cooled efforts to rebuild educational ties in the wake of the landmark nuclear deal, two U.S. officials said," Reuters reported this week. "They said the U.S. government is now cautioning American universities against moving too fast and that the schools themselves are treading warily."
Holland, who directs the Center for International Development at Ball State, told The Star Press on Wednesday he was familiar with the allegations.