The Iranian authorities continue with the crackdown on the academic community. In a recent action, they removed Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s main rival in 2009 disputed elections, from the Board of Trustees of the Open (Azad) University and issued new statutes for the University.
According to Radio Zamaneh, via Payvand Iranian news agency, changing the statues of the Open University had been one of the priorities of the Ahmadinejad government. In the new statutes, the responsibilities of the board of trustees and the president of the University are limited. The new statutes make the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, the Ministry of Science and the office of the Supreme Leader the actual management body of the Open University.
The move shifts the reformist make up of the management in favor of the ruling conservative-hardliner leadership.
The new statutes also limit the term for presidency of the university to 4 years. This automatically opens up the way to the dismissal of the current President of the University, Abdollah Jasbi. Mr. Jasbi has served as president of the institution since its establishment.
According to the new statutes, the head of any department/unit that has more than 5,000 students must be selected under the supervision of the government. The Open (Azad) University has 375 branches all across Iran and 400 thousand students are enrolled in its programs.
Along with Mir Hossein Mousavi, several other reformist figures such as Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Seyed Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili, Abdollah Jasbi, and Hassan Khomeini have been removed from the Board. They have been replaced by representatives of the Supreme Leader or from the office of the President.
Mir Hossein Mousavi was also dismissed from his post as the head of the Academy of Fine Arts in December 2009 by the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution which is headed by no other than Ahmadinejad himself.
According to Radio Zamaneh, via Payvand Iranian news agency, changing the statues of the Open University had been one of the priorities of the Ahmadinejad government. In the new statutes, the responsibilities of the board of trustees and the president of the University are limited. The new statutes make the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, the Ministry of Science and the office of the Supreme Leader the actual management body of the Open University.
The move shifts the reformist make up of the management in favor of the ruling conservative-hardliner leadership.
The new statutes also limit the term for presidency of the university to 4 years. This automatically opens up the way to the dismissal of the current President of the University, Abdollah Jasbi. Mr. Jasbi has served as president of the institution since its establishment.
According to the new statutes, the head of any department/unit that has more than 5,000 students must be selected under the supervision of the government. The Open (Azad) University has 375 branches all across Iran and 400 thousand students are enrolled in its programs.
Along with Mir Hossein Mousavi, several other reformist figures such as Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Seyed Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili, Abdollah Jasbi, and Hassan Khomeini have been removed from the Board. They have been replaced by representatives of the Supreme Leader or from the office of the President.
Mir Hossein Mousavi was also dismissed from his post as the head of the Academy of Fine Arts in December 2009 by the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution which is headed by no other than Ahmadinejad himself.
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