Al-Monitor | Zep Kalb: On Jan. 14, Islamic Azad University (IAU)�approved new rules�that are set to increase state control over its many campuses. The move will also consolidate the Principlists� grip over Iran�s largest private university.


As part of the new regulations, the Friday prayer leaders of Iran�s 31 provincial capitals were placed on the university�s regional boards of trustees. These clerics are appointed directly by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a different announcement on the same day, IAU management declared that�music concerts were outlawed�on all of its campuses.

The�restriction on cultural activities�while increasing the clerical influence over the organization comes only weeks after a wave of protests over a range of economic and political grievances hit many Iranian towns and cities.


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