Islamic Azad University

On May 21, 1982, two years after the culmination of the Iranian Cultural Revolution, an initiative called the Islamic Azad University was announced in the sermon of the Tehran Friday prayers by Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani; this particularly historical speech was the result of his consultations with Dr. Abdollah Jassbi, an Iranian academic and politician, for opening the university. The first IAU entrance exam was held in February, 1983 with 32 thousand participants in Shahrud, Ahwaz, Tabriz, Tehran, Rasht, Zahedan, Kerman, Mashhad, and Yazd and almost three thousand students were accepted in civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering, physics, mathematics, chemistry, metal industry, textile, and accounting majors. Like other Iranian Higher Educational Institutions, Islamic Azad University is active under the supervision of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. The degrees awarded to IAU graduates are independent and granted with the direct endorsement of the Islamic Azad University.