Khamenei Stops Government Takeover of Azad University

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has nullified a recent ruling by High Council for Education that would have transferred the control of Azad ("Free") University of Iran, the country’s largest, to the government. The move is a major victory for Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, the founding chairman of the university’s board of trustees, and a defeat for Ahmadinejad’s attempt to take over the university.

The government’s High Council for Education had approved new by-laws and a new board of trustees for the university. Those moves became nullified by Khamenei's order. The government had also encouraged student demonstrations against Rafsanjani and his control of the university and the influential extreme right daily Kayhan had strongly pushed for the government takeover.