Member of Parliament: Education Commission Unaware of Unexpected Change in Head of Azad University

Following the dismissal of the head of Islamic Azad University, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of the Parliament's Education Commission, described the action as "unexpected and surprising" and announced that the Education Commission was unaware of this change. The Board of Trustees of Azad University dismissed Hamid Mirzadeh from his position in an extraordinary meeting on Sunday, April 23, and appointed Ali Mohammad Nourian as the caretaker. Hours before the announcement of this decree, the Tasnim news agency reported that the extraordinary meeting was convened at the request of four members of the Board of Trustees. However, no official reason for the dismissal of Hamid Mirzadeh has been announced so far. On Tuesday, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in Parliament, described this action as "unexpected and surprising." Sadeghi, who is also a member of the Education Commission, stated that the commission had no knowledge of this decision. He emphasized that Mirzadeh's performance during his management was "positive" and that his sudden change without consulting other relevant bodies in this field seems abnormal. On Tuesday, Yasser Hashemi, head of the Board of Trustees office and son of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, also called the sudden change in Azad University management ahead of elections "sensitive and concerning." Hashemi further stated that Mirzadeh's dismissal three months before the end of his legal term is "against the direction of stability and growth" of Azad University. The authority of the founding board and the Board of Trustees of Azad University was previously held by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, but after his death, Ali Akbar Velayati took over this responsibility by the order of the Supreme Leader. The Board of Trustees of Azad University consists of three founding board members, three full-time faculty members from universities, as well as the Ministers of Health and Science, and the head of the leadership representation in universities. Ali Mohammad Nourian, the current caretaker of Azad University, was appointed as the secretary of this board by the members of the founding board in March 2015. Hamid Mirzadeh, who was previously the secretary of the founding board of Azad University, was appointed as the head of Azad University in September 2013 after the rise of Hassan Rouhani's government. Mirzadeh had also served as the deputy of Abdollah Jasbi, the former president of Azad University. Before Mirzadeh's presidency at Azad University, Farhad Daneshju, brother of Kamran Daneshju, the Minister of Science in Ahmadinejad's cabinet, succeeded Abdollah Jasbi after much conflict in March 2012. Since 2009, the ownership and management of Azad University have been a point of contention between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the then head of the founding board of this university. At that time, while the founding board voted to endow the assets and buildings of this university, Ayatollah Khamenei deemed the endowment of this collection to have legal and regulatory issues. In this context, with the dismissal of Mirzadeh, Ali Mohammad Nourian became the caretaker of Azad University.