Former Head of Azad University Calls for Disclosure of Alleged Economic Corruption Documents by Velayati

Hamid Mirzadeh, the former president of Azad Islamic University, who was dismissed by Ali Akbar Velayati, the head of the university's board of trustees, and accused of economic corruption, has issued a statement asking Velayati to publicly release the documents related to the alleged corruption. One day after Hassan Khomeini's letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, regarding the illegality of Mirzadeh's dismissal and a request for investigation into the matter, Velayati gave an interview to Kayhan newspaper on June 9, stating that 'Mr. Mirzadeh was warned about the financial corruption present at Azad University.' He added, 'Part of the main problem is the involvement of Mr. Mirzadeh's children in university affairs and their interference in large financial contracts, for which all documents exist. Even statements from some heads of Azad University branches exist, written with their own signatures on this matter.' Now, Hamid Mirzadeh has written a five-point letter to Ali Akbar Velayati, asking him to 'first... inform the public about these alleged corruption documents, and second, I suggest that he and I hold a debate in the presence of university managers and media representatives in the university's Farhikhtegan Hall to determine whether the issues raised are real or fabricated by those heads and managers who have been dismissed due to financial corruption and administrative and educational violations, and who have been the source of false information and distortion of realities to him?' He emphasized that if he were 'a person of misuse and corruption,' he would have acted 'against my duty and lied to you, and with the flattery and sycophancy that has unfortunately become common these days, I would have preserved my position to continue misusing without regard for the university's interests, because a person who misuses tries to stay at any cost!' The former head of Azad University also claimed that Ali Akbar Velayati had suggested to him that if he accepted the appointment of one of the new managers at the university, he would secure the approval of the members of the Cultural Revolution Council for his presidency for another four years, but he did not accept. He then asked, 'How could you want to secure a vote from the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council for my management for another four years if I were corrupt?!' Mr. Mirzadeh stated that Velayati had told him in repeated meetings of the Azad University board, 'You can remain president of the university only if you accept whatever I say, dismiss whoever I tell you to, appoint whoever I tell you to, and do whatever I say, having no authority. I replied, then what happens to the powers and duties of the president of the university, which are specified in Articles 13 and 14 of the charter, and the management of university affairs and the dismissal and appointment of managers are entrusted to the president? Dr. Velayati said, I do not care about the charter.' He mentioned that before Velayati made these issues public, he had sent a report about 'recent developments in the university and actions contrary to the charter and the decisions of the central board of trustees' to the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, the President, and the head of the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council and is waiting for their response. Ali Akbar Velayati, in addition to being the head of the Azad Islamic University board, which he was appointed to immediately after the death of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is also a senior advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. In part of his interview with Kayhan newspaper, he stated that when Mr. Mirzadeh did not resolve the issues, 'according to Article 11 of the charter, at the request of four members of the board (while three were sufficient), we held an extraordinary meeting. All nine members of the board were present at this meeting. The agenda was to address these financial corruptions.' He said that 'in this meeting, Ali Mohammad Nourian, the secretary-general of the founding board appointed by Ayatollah Hashemi, presented several examples of proven financial corruption in the management of Azad University with slide documents (which included six binders).' In this meeting, which continued with the presence of seven members, 'five out of the seven members present initially voted for his resignation within a week and then for his dismissal if he did not resign.' According to Mohammad Mohammadian, the head of the Leader's representative office in universities, Hamid Mirzadeh and Hassan Khomeini did not vote in this meeting. Velayati's statements come as Hassan Khomeini, a member of the Azad University board, in his letter to the President of Iran, called the dismissal of the president of Azad University 'lacking legal legitimacy' and stated that there is at least a 'strong suspicion of illegality' regarding the dismissal process of Mr. Mirzadeh. The Azad University board dismissed Hamid Mirzadeh from the presidency of this university in an extraordinary meeting on April 23, and afterward, Ali Akbar Velayati, the head of this board, announced that the board had appointed Ali Mohammad Nourian as the interim head of this university. However, Hassan Khomeini emphasized in his letter to the President that the appointment of the interim head was made 'without voting in the board.' Hamid Mirzadeh also stated in an interview with the Jamearan website that the Azad University board has ten members, and in the meeting held for his dismissal, Hassan Khomeini and the Ministers of Science and Health opposed this decision. He added that he himself was also against the dismissal but 'the president of the university does not have the right to vote on the issue of appointment and dismissal according to the charter.' On the other hand, he stated that the membership terms of three other members of the board had expired, and thus their votes were invalid. Mr. Mirzadeh concluded that the decision to dismiss him was made only with the votes of Ali Akbar Velayati, Abdollah Jasebi, and Mohammad Mohammadian. Meanwhile, Hassan Khomeini's letter has drawn a response from the head of the Leader's representative office in universities, and Mohammad Mohammadian stated, 'It is very surprising that Mr. Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, who was present at the dismissal and appointment of three presidents of Azad University during the late Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani's time and did not raise the slightest objection, now raises his voice in protest when the president of the university is dismissed legally and according to the charter and a legal interim head is appointed in his place! I wish he had at least read the charter of Azad University once!' Azad Islamic University has faced such controversies before. During Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, the ownership and management of Azad University became one of the conflicts between the founding board headed by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the government, and ultimately, the tenth government was able to dismiss Abdollah Jasebi from the presidency of this university in March 2012 and replace him with Farhad Daneshjoo. However, with the rise of Hassan Rouhani and the start of his government, with changes in the composition of the Azad University board, Farhad Daneshjoo was dismissed and Hamid Mirzadeh replaced him.