The Publication of Maryam Rajavi's Photo in the Sharif University Alumni Special Issue Sparks Controversy

The publication of a photo of Maryam Rajavi, a leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, in the special issue of the seventh annual alumni celebration of Sharif University of Technology has caused controversy, leading to the closure of the university's alumni association and eliciting various reactions. Maryam Rajavi was a metallurgy engineering student at Sharif University in the 1970s, and her photo, under the name 'Maryam Qajar Azdanlou' residing in France, was published as one of the university's graduates in the alumni special issue, resulting in the closure of the alumni association and the collection of all distributed publications. According to the Mizan news agency, affiliated with Iran's judiciary, 33 members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) on Wednesday, October 14, requested an explanation from the Minister of Science, Research, and Technology regarding the reason for publishing Maryam Rajavi's photo in the alumni special issue. Davood Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Education and Research Commission of the Parliament, also announced that the matter would be pursued in this commission. He described the publication of Maryam Rajavi's photo in the alumni special issue as 'incorrect and inappropriate' and mentioned that necessary actions would be taken against those who carried out this act, whether intentionally or accidentally. Mahmoud Fattahi Firouzabadi, the president of Sharif University of Technology, condemned the publication of Maryam Rajavi's photo in the alumni special issue on Wednesday, October 14, and announced that the matter would be pursued. He stated that the office of the alumni association had been shut down following this action and told the Fars news agency, 'As soon as we learned about the distribution of some of this publication among students, we ordered that the distribution of this publication be halted and the distributed publications be collected.' The president of Sharif University emphasized that this issue is 'unacceptable' for university officials and that the alumni association must be held accountable for its actions. Mahmoud Fattahi Firouzabadi added that this association is not under the university's supervision, but its office located at the university has been closed. Habib Mohammadzadeh, the representative of Ayatollah Khamenei at Sharif University, also stated that the alumni association is not considered part of the university and emphasized that if the publication of Maryam Rajavi's photo was intentional, action would be taken against those responsible. On the other hand, Sajjad Reyhani, the political head of the Iranian Student Basij, described the publication of Maryam Rajavi's photo in the alumni special issue as a 'shameful act' that, according to him, 'should not be easily overlooked.' He criticized the government's 'lack of oversight' over alumni associations and deemed some of their activities, including holding 'mixed camps,' as 'anti-values' actions. Iran considers the People's Mujahedin to be a terrorist group. The United States and the European Union previously classified this group as terrorist, but the EU and later the U.S. State Department removed the group from the list of terrorist organizations.