Fear of Iran Shutters Major University Offerings in Dubai

Hey Michigan State University, paranoid much?

New evidence shows that MSU’s decision to close virtually its entire Dubai campus in 2010, nominally for financial reasons, was actually the result of paranoia about “Iranian spies” that they never knew for sure actually existed.

The campus was slow in growing, and the university needed investors. A Dubai company stepped forward, offering some $3.7 million. If MSU took that money, the program would almost certainly be active today. They didn’t.

But why? Apparently MSU wasn’t familiar with the company in question, so they called the CIA and asked them if the company was secretly a front for the Iranian government. The CIA said it couldn’t prove conclusively that it wasn’t, but that it didn’t have any evidence that it was either.

Putting aside for a minute exactly how one could conclusively prove that anything is not a secret Iranian plot, the completely absent portion of this story is what the theoretical harm could have been. MSU, the largest university in Michigan, is primarily an agricultural school, and its Dubai campus looks to have offered little beyond degrees in communications and “family community services.” What could Iran have possibly done by secretly investing in that?

One thought on “Fear of Iran Shutters Major University Offerings in Dubai”

  1. I guess they were more worried about the US government accusing them of collaborating with the enemies. Who in his right mind would want to be declared 'terrorist supporter' and spend the rest of his/her life in Gitmo?

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