Tehran, July 06: The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has ordered the suspension of any measures regarding the Islamic Azad University at the present time.
In two separate decrees to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Head of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (SCCR), and Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Head of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Azad University, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called on them to maintain the status quo of the Islamic Azad University by avoiding taking any measures for the time being.
The secretariat of the founding board of the university said in a statement that in the decrees, Ayatollah Khamenei ordered the suspension of any measures, stating that disputes regarding the Islamic Azad University have sparked “tedious and unnecessary discussions” among certain Iranian officials.
The disputes surrounding the Islamic Azad University emerged after the board of trustees headed by Ayatollah Rafsanjani announced last year that it has endowed all removable and irremovable properties of the university.
Eight months later, the SCCR drew up new articles of association for the Azad University and changed a number of members of the founding board.
The move prompted the founding board of the university to complain to the country’s judiciary and to call for the annulment of the SCCR’s bill, arguing the bill lacked religious and legal bases. A court in Tehran consequently issued a verdict whereby it nullified the bill.
One day after that, the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) passed a bill under which the SCCR’s bill regarding the articles of association of the Islamic Azad University had to be considered nullified.
The court’s verdict and the bill by the parliament sparked strong protests by supporters of the government.
Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i called on Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani to nullify the verdict and to task another court with the case. The request was accepted by Ayatollah Larijani.
The Guardian Council also said that the legislation by the parliament had ambiguities as well as religious and constitutional violations.
Founded in 1982, Islamic Azad University is Iran’s largest private chain of universities that consists of 357 branches and satellite campuses throughout the country and an enrollment of 1.4 million students.
–Agencies