Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch

The Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch (Persian: دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد تهران مرکزی, Daneshgah-e Âzad-e Eslâmi-ye Vahed-e Tehran Mirkâzi) is a private research university located in Tehran, Iran. Founded in 1982, Central Tehran is the flagship institution of the universities affiliated with Islamic Azad University system. The university is the oldest,^[5][6] the largest^[4] and the top university among all branches of Islamic Azad University academic organization, established in 1982, originally as the Islamic Azad University of Tehran.^[1] The university campuses rest on 297,904 m² (3,206,610 sq ft) of various districts of Tehran.^[4] It offers approximately 488 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines such as sciences, engineering, art, architecture, humanities and social sciences.^[4]

Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch

دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد تهران مرکزی
Seal of IAU Central Tehran Branch
Other name	Central Tehran University IAUCTB
Former names	Islamic Azad University of Tehran[1]
Motto	بدون شعار رسمی شعار غیر رسمی شامل: اطلب العلم من المهد الى اللحد (Arabic) ز گهواره تا گور دانش بجوی آرمان ایرانی برای جهانی شدن یادگیری و زندگی (Persian)
Motto in English	No official motto Unofficial mottoes include: Seek Knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave Iranian Aspirations for Globalization Learn and Live
Type	Private research university
Established	August 1, 1982; 42 years ago (August 1, 1982)[2][3]
Academic affiliations	Islamic Azad University
President	Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi
Rector	Alireza Firoozfar
Academic staff	2,000 {800 (Full-time Faculty Member) and 1,200 (Visiting and Adjunct) } (2025)[3]
Administrative staff	800 (2025)[3]
Students	~50,000 (2025)[3]
Undergraduates	~30,000 (2025)[3]
Postgraduates	~16,000 (2025)[3]
Doctoral students	~4,000 (2025)[3]
Location	Tehran , Iran 35°45′43.64″N 51°20′20.83″E
Campus	Urban, 297,904 m2 (3,206,610 sq ft) (total)[4] 156,532 m2 (1,684,900 sq ft) (educational)[4] 8,689 m2 (93,530 sq ft) (sport space)[4] 7,400 m2 (80,000 sq ft) (laboratories)[4] 5,283 m2 (56,870 sq ft) (libraries)[4]
Colors	Dark and light Blue
Website	ctb.iau.ir

History

Establishment

Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch is the very first branch established under the university system which is known as Islamic Azad University, so the history of this branch can be traced back to the foundation of the university.^[7]

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani sought to establish a private university to address the challenges posed during the early years of Iranian Revolution -such as Cultural Revolution- and to meet increasing demands of secondary-school graduates for higher education in Iran.^[8] On the sidelines of an Islamic Republican Party conference, Rafsanjani mooted the idea with Abdollah Jasbi, who supported and developed the plan to establish Islamic Azad University.^[7] Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch is the very first branch established under the university system which is known as Islamic Azad University.^[7] In its early days, the university lacked sufficient funds and facilities to operate, sorely relying on donations made by people and government.^[7] The initial endowment was about 100,000 Rials.^[9]

Jasbi rented No. 155 building in Forsat Shirazi St., while Nassir Shekarriz and Mahmoud Latifipour – who were in charge as Chancellor and Vice Chancellor respectively – rented the sixth floor of a building located in Enqelab St., Felestin St. in order to hold an entrance exam in 1982.^[7] This university began as the Islamic Azad University of Tehran when it opened its doors to about 200 students, offering six majors in bachelor's degree and two in associate degree.^[10] Soon after, the whole building in Enqelab St. was purchased from Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution and became the university's first property. (Current Faculty of Arts and Architecture)^[7]

Chancellors

Chancellor	Tenure
Nasir Shekarriz	1982–1998
Majid Monajjemi	1998 (interim)
Karim Zare	1998–2003
Hossein Aghaei	2003 (interim)
Hossein Mojtabazadeh	2003–2005
Ahmad Moradi	2005–2006
Mohammad-Ali Gozashti	2006–2012
Ferdos Hajian	2012–2013
Farhad Hosseinzadeh Lotfi	2013–2015
Mehrdad Navabakhsh	2015–2016
Ahmad Shams	2016–2017
Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi	2017–2018
Seyed Mahmoud Reza Aghamiri	2018–2022
Towhid Pourrostam	2022–2024
Mohammad Narimanirad	2024–2025
Alireza Firoozfar	2025–present

Campus

The university has 13 Faculties:^[11]

IAUCTB Faculties

Faculty	Location
Faculty of Foreign Languages	Enghelab Campus
Faculty of Literature and Humanities
Faculty of Sciences	Hashemi Rafsanjani Campus
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning
Faculty of Management	Velayat Campus
Faculty of Arts
Faculty of Economics and Accounting
Faculty of Psychology and Education
Faculty of Social Sciences, Communication Sciences and Media Studies
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences
Faculty of Political Sciences
Faculty of Law

The university has three campuses:

IAUCTB Campuses

Campus	Location	Schools
Velayat	Sohanak	Arts, Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences
Hashemi Rafsanjani	Punak	Science, Engineering and Architecture
Enghelab	Enghelab St., Pich Shemiran	Foreign Languages, Literature and Humanities

Schools and departments

Programs by subject:

• Arts & humanities
• Clinical, pre-clinical & health (medical sciences)
• Life sciences
• Social sciences
• Engineering & technology
• Physical sciences

Enrollments

In academic year of 2023-2024

Field of Study	Percent
Engineering and technology	~30%
Humanities	~51%
Art	~13%
Science	~5%
Agriculture and Veterinary	~1%
Medical Sciences	~0%
Total[12]	100%

Level of study (Degree)	Percent
Associate	2.36%
Bachelor's	62.20%
Master's	30.15%
Ph.D.	5.29%
Total	100%

Faculty of Engineering

Programs and majors

In academic year of 2023-2024:

• Aerospace engineering (BS, MS)
• Biomedical engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
• Chemical engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
• Civil engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
• Computer engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
• Electrical engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
• Energy engineering (MS)
• Environmental engineering (BS, MS)
• Industrial engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
• Information technology engineering (MS)
• Materials engineering (BS, MS)
• Mechanical engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
• Mechatronics engineering (MS)
• Mining engineering (BS, MS)
• Nuclear engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
• Petroleum engineering (BS, MS)
• Polymer engineering (BS)
• Sports engineering (BS)
• Textile engineering (BS)

Sub-program

• Department of Electrical Engineering

B.S.	M.S.	Ph.D.
Communications	Communications (Communication System, Communication Networks, Secure Communication & Cryptography, Optical Communication, Field & Wave Communication)	Communications (Communication System, Field & Wave Communication)
Control	Control	Control
Electronics	Electronics (Micro and Nanoelectronic Devices, Digital Electronic Systems, Electronic Integrated Circuits)	Electronics
Power	Power (Power Systems, Power Electronics and Electrical Machines, Planning and Management of Electrical Energy Systems, Electrical Transportation Systems)	Power

• Department of Biomedical Engineering

B.S.	M.S.	Ph.D.
Biomedical Engineering	Bioelectric (joint program EE Dept)	Bioelectric (joint program EE Dept)
	Biomechanic	Biomechanic
	Biomaterial	Biomaterial
	Rehabilitation
	Tissue

• Department of Computer Engineering

B.S.	M.S.	Ph.D.
Computer Engineering	Computer Systems Architecture	Computer Systems Architecture
	Software	Software
	Artificial Intelligence & Robotics	Artificial Intelligence & Robotics
		Network and Computing

• Department of Nuclear Engineering

B.S.	M.S.	Ph.D.
Nuclear Engineering	Medical Radiation Engineering	Medical Radiation Engineering
	Reactor Engineering	Nuclear Energy Engineering

• Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Department of Industrial Engineering
• Department of Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Science

• Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics

It offers the following programs:

B.S.	M.S.	Ph.D.
Computer Science	Computer Science	Computer Science
Applied Statistics	Applied Statistics	Statistics
Applied Mathematics	Mathematics (Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics)	Mathematics (Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics)

• Department of Biology
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Physics

Admissions

The university received 35,317 applications for the Fall 2011 undergraduate class, making it the university with the most freshmen applicants among all branches of Islamic Azad University.^[13] In 2013, a total number of 11,789 and 6,061 applications were received for undergraduate and graduate programs respectively.^[9]

Rankings

• Islamic World Science Citation Database

2011: third among Islamic Azad University campuses^[14]

• SCImago rankings

2012: International rank : 231, National rank : 1^[15] (Islamic Azad University)
2013: International rank : 87, National rank : 1^[16] (Islamic Azad University)

Notable alumni and people

• 
  Zahra Rahnavard, Faculty of Political Sciences
• 
  Sadegh Zibakalam, Faculty of Political Sciences
• 
  Abdolhossein Mokhtabad, Faculty of Arts
• 
  Abbas Araghchi, MS (International Relation)
• 
  Siamak Ansari, BS (Theater)
• 
  Ali Daei, MS (Physical Education)
• 
  Mohammad Abbasi, MS (Management)
• 
  Marzieh Afkham, MS (Political Sciences)
• 
  Hamid Sourian, BS (Physical Education)
• 
  Hanieh Tavassoli, BS (Theater)
• 
  Masoud Soltanifar, MS (Political Sciences)
• 
  Faezeh Hashemi, MS (International law)
• 
  Javad Khiabani, BS (Physical Education)
• 
  Mohammad Reza Rahimi, MS (Sociology)

Faculty

See also: Category:Academic staff of the Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch

Zahra Rahnavard[17] – Iranian Reformist Politician Mohammad-Javad Haghshenas[18] – Iranian Reformist journalist and Political activist Amir Mohebbian[19] – Iranian Conservative Politician Mansour Falamaki[20] – Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Famer in architecture Hassan Riahi[9] – Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Famer in music and composer of National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyyed Bagher Ayatollahzadeh Shirazi[21] – Architect and Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Famer in Heritage site repairs Homayoun Riahi Chaleshtari[22] – Chairman of Zamyad Co. (2008–2009) and board member of Iran Khodro and SAIPA Mostafa Kavakebian, Iranian Reformist Politician and former parliament representative Hossein Allahkaram, Ansar-e Hezbollah activist Ali Akbar Saremi – Architect Karen Khanlari[23] – Representative of Iranian parliament Karim Zareh – Former representative of Iranian parliament Hassan Mohadessi – Sociologist Jahanbakhsh Khanjani[24] – Iranian Reformist Politician Ali Najafi Tavana – Iran Central Bar Association President Jalil Maleki – Iran Central Bar Association Board Member Isa Amini – Iran Central Bar Association Board Member Elaheh Koulaei – Former representative of Iranian parliament Ferdos Hajian – Primary school education expert

Mohammad-Reza Rahimi[25] – Vice President of Iran (2009–2013) Enshallah Rahmati[26] – Journalist and Translator in Philosophy and theosophy Sadegh Zibakalam[27] – Political analyst Effat Shariati – Iranian parliament representative Hamid Sajjadi – United Nations Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport Vice-president Mohammad-Hossein Farhangi – Iranian parliament representative Habibollah Sadeghi – Painter Saeid Kharaghani – Iranian Ministry of Energy Deputy for Research & Human Resources (1998–2005) Ali Darabi, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Deputy Shabnam Gholikhani – Actress and Director Farhad Nazerzadeh Kermani[9] – Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Famer in Arts Ahmad Bakhshayesh[23] – Representative of Iranian parliament Hossein Abolhasan Tanhayi – Sociologist Mostafa Askarian – Pedagogian Mohammad Reza Sadegh – Senior Advisor to President Hassan Rouhani Abdollah Ramezanzadeh[24] – Iranian Reformist Politician, governor of the Kurdistan Province under President Mohammad Khatami Abdolhossein Mokhtabad – Musician, Singer, Member of City Council of Tehran

Alumni

See also: Category:Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch alumni

As of June 2010, the university has 176,973 alumni^[4] which makes it the biggest number among all branches of Islamic Azad University.^[28]

Mohammad Abbasi[29] – Iran Minister of Cooperatives (2005–2011) and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (2011–2013) Faezeh Hashemi[30] – former representative of Iranian parliament and women rights activist Parvin Ahmadinejad[31] – former member of City Council of Tehran Mohammad-Ali Pourmokhtar[23] – Representative of Iranian parliament Mehdi Davatgari – Representative of Iranian parliament[23] Rajab Rahmani – Representative of Iranian parliament[23] Rahmatollah Norouzi – Representative of Iranian parliament[23] Shabnam Gholikhani – Actress and Director Hanieh Tavassoli – Actress Shahrokh Razmjou – Archaeologist Elnaz Shakerdoust – Actress Kazem Sayahi – Voice actor Behdad Moghadasi – Guitarist Akbar Mohammadi Argi – Football coach Fariba Davoodi Mohajer – Journalist and activist

Abbas Araghchi – Diplomat, Iranian Ambassador to Finland & Japan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Shoroughi – Writer and Journalist Laleh Eskandari – Actress Bahareh Rahnama – Actress Azita Afrashi – linguist and Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies fellow Mojtaba Saminejad – blogger and human rights activist Kambiz Hosseini – co-presenter of Parazit Shararh Farnejad – Musician and member of Arian Band Mehrab Ghasemkhani – Screenwriter Mahdi Pakdel – Actor Elnaz Shakerdoust – Actress Houman Haji-Abdollahi – Voice actor and IRIB Host Siamak Ansari – Actor Abolfazl Shahi – Artist Arash Dadgar – Theater Actor Hamed Behdad – Actor

Athletics

Several students have won medals in International competitions while studying at the university.^[32]

Medalists at 2010 Asian Games

Name	Sport	Medal
Taleb Nematpour	Wrestling	Gold
Jasem Vishgahi	Karate	Gold
Elaheh Ahmadi	STR3X20	Silver
	AR40 team	Silver
	STR3X20 team	Bronze
Mir-Saeid Marouf	Volleyball	Silver
Farshad Alizadeh	Wrestling	Bronze
Sara Khoshjamal Fekri	Taekwondo	Bronze
Saeideh Maghsoudlou	Kabaddi	Bronze
Fatemeh Momeni		Bronze
Sajjad Anoushiravani	Weightlifting	Bronze
Samad Nikkhah Bahrami	Basketball	Bronze

Medalists at 2012 Summer Olympics

Name	Sport	Medal
Hamid Sourian	Wrestling	Gold
Sajjad Anoushiravani	Weightlifting	Silver

Other notable sportspeople at the university include Ali Daei, Karim Ansarifard, Mohammad Mayeli Kohan, Akbar Mohammadi, Mahmoud Miran and Arash Miresmaeili.^[33]