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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