Iran's hardliners target moderate school

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's leader issued a decree Monday paving the way for a state takeover of the country's largest private university, in a crushing blow to the nation's moderates.

The Islamic Azad University is the center of power for former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pragmatist and key supporter of Iran's moderates. The institution, which was founded in 1982, was a major site for opposition protests against the 2009 disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which opponents say was fraudulent.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's decree declared the university's endowment, which keeps it financially independent, to be religiously illegitimate and therefore null and void.

The endowment, or vaqf in Farsi, was set up in 2009, shortly after the elections by the university board to keep the it independent in the face of the rising power of hardliners in the ruling system.

The university, which has more than 1.3 million students in more than 350 branches nationwide, allowed opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi free access to its huge resources during his election campaign, allowing his voice to be heard all over Iran.

Ever since, Ahmadinejad and his extremist camp have intensified efforts to strip Rafsanjani of this multibillion dollar power house. The assets of the university are estimated to be about $250 billion.

The endowment was challenged by Ahmadinejad's supporters and after the elections, the courts, parliament and various councils allied to different factions within the ruling system battled over the fate of the university.

Khamenei's decision is a public humiliation of Ra

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