Farhad Rahbar Appointed as Acting Head of Islamic Azad University

A member of the board of trustees of Islamic Azad University announced the appointment of Farhad Rahbar as the new acting head of the university. Additionally, the board of trustees has introduced Mr. Rahbar as the new president of the university to the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. IRNA news agency reported on Sunday, July 16, citing Saleh Eskandari, that this decision was made during a board meeting on Saturday. According to Mr. Eskandari, the members of the board of trustees unanimously appointed Farhad Rahbar as the acting head of the university. He also added that 'based on the decision of the board of trustees of Islamic Azad University, Farhad Rahbar has been introduced as the president of this university to the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, and we are awaiting the council's final approval.' Farhad Rahbar was recently appointed as a member of the board of trustees of Islamic Azad University during a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution on July 10. Reports regarding Mr. Rahbar's introduction as president of Islamic Azad University come at a time when speculations about his possible appointment to this position had previously been denied. As reported by ISNA, Mojtaba Alavi Fazel, the spokesperson for Islamic Azad University, denied Mr. Rahbar's selection as president, stating that 'these statements are fabricated by some media and are not true at all.' Farhad Rahbar, born in 1959 in Semnan, is a faculty member at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tehran and holds a PhD in theoretical economics from this university. His management experience includes serving as the president of the University of Tehran and the head of the Management and Planning Organization during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. After Hassan Rouhani was elected president in 2013, he was dismissed from the presidency of the University of Tehran by the Minister of Science. During the 2017 presidential election campaign, he was among the members of Ebrahim Raisi's campaign team. His dismissal from the presidency of the University of Tehran in 2013 sparked a wave of opposition from conservative media, with Tasnim News Agency reporting that his removal was a result of his opposition to holding 'a party conference' at the University of Tehran. Islamic Azad University underwent significant changes following the death of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former head of the founding board and board of trustees of this university, and the Supreme Leader appointed Ali Akbar Velayati as the head of the founding boards and trustees of Islamic Azad University. The board of trustees of Islamic Azad University, in an extraordinary meeting on April 22 of this year, appointed Ali Mohammad Nourian as the acting head of the university, replacing Hamid Mirzadeh. Mr. Velayati has accused the former president of Islamic Azad University, Hamid Mirzadeh, of 'economic corruption,' and Mirzadeh's dismissal faced protests from Hassan Khomeini, a member of the founding board and board of trustees of this university.