Leader Appoints IAU Chairman

Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in a decree on Thursday, appointed his top advisor Ali Akbar Velayati as new chairman of the board of founders of Islamic Azad University. Under the decree, Velayati, already a board member, replaced the late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who passed away from heart failure earlier this month. "As the [university's] memorandum of association passed by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council fails to specify how to choose the chairman of the founding board … I appoint an incumbent member of the board, Ali Akbar Velayati, as the chairman to avoid any disruption in the affairs of the university, which has a key role in providing higher education," Ayatollah Khamenei said in the decree, IRNA reported. Rafsanjani was one of the prominent figures that helped lead the 1979 Islamic Revolution to victory and went on to serve in various influential positions. He had served as president for two terms and was the head of the Expediency Council until his passing, which resolves disputes between the parliament and the Guardians Council.