TEHRAN – The Islamic Azad University (IAU) is planning on expanding overseas branches through setting up units in Iraq and Syria, Khabaronline reported on Tuesday.

Having great cultural and historical capacities allows Iran to have a strong presence in different fields, including the academic realm, said Ali Akbar Velayati, the head of the university’s board of founders.

Praising the growing capacity of IAU, Velayati went on to say that around 10,000 foreign students are studying at different branches of IAU across the country.

Plans for branches in Iraq

He went on to say that Humam Hamoudi, head of Iraq’s Islamic Supreme Council, has expressed interest in establishing Azad University branches in “all cities” of Iraq, adding, as per memorandums of understanding signed with Ammar Hakim [previous chief of the Islamic Supreme Council], Islamic Azad University will set up branches in Karbala, Najaf, Baghdad, Basra and Erbil in near future.

The project of constructing the first branch of Islamic Azad University (IAU) in Iraq with the name of ‘Al-Mustafa Al-Amin’ kicked off in the Kadhimiya district [in northern Baghdad] on August 14, 2017. The university will be built in an area of 22,500 square meters and is expected to host 3,000 students initially, Donya-e Eqtesad Persian language daily newspaper reported on August 14, 2017.

New branches in Syria

Velayati further noted that after correspondences with the Syrian President expressing the readiness of Azad University for setting up branches, Bashar al-Assad has called for establishing IAU branches in all cities of Syria.

Other active international branches of IAU

According to IAU international affairs website, the Lebanon IAU branch officially started its activities in 1990 and is now offering 22 courses, including Islamic education, educational sciences, political sciences, and computer engineering through 5 campuses in different levels of studies.

Another branch is in UAE founded in 1995. IAU-UAE Branch can be regarded as the most active international branch of the Islamic Azad University, offering a host of programs at bachelor’s, master’s as well as doctoral levels in several disciplines of engineering, law, humanities, arts and management. 

Also there are two other branches active in Kabul and Oxford as well.

Mere presence not enough

Although the chair of the board of trustees of the Islamic Azad University Velayati described the activities of foreign IAU branches as “successful,” surely, the mere presence of international branches is not enough and IAU should focus on attracting the brightest students of the regions through enhancing its academic standards and performance in order to have a stronger influence on this arena.

MAH/MQ/MG