Following a few weeks of attacks by Ahmadinejad and his administration directed at Azad University, Hashemi Rafsanjani, who serves on the university’s board of trustees, called on all Azad officials to resists attempts to subjugate the university. In Rafsanjani’s view, “If we wanted to back down in face of such devious efforts we should have returned to the seminaries or answered villagers’ religious questions.” A day before making this statement, Rafsanjani also asserted, “We hope that those who desire to cause mischief for an institution that enjoys national and international repute, would leave the university alone.”

Tehran’s publications interpreted Rafsanjani’s remarks, which were made during a visit to Azad University’s Najafabad campus in Isfahan, as a reaction to the growing attacks that Ahmadinejad and his supporters have been making at the university in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, in a meeting with a group of Isfahan’s political activists, Rafsanjani commented on the movement that, in his view, “is attempting to sideline old forces and, worse than that, is trying to defame them.” Rafsanjani warned that this was “flashing the green light to the enemy,” adding, “There are threats that are facing our country from the outside. If we add internal discontents to those threats, then the result would be either indifference or the creation of new challenges, either of which amounts to giving the green lights to the enemy.” Rafsanjani had recently warned that some groups were acting in a way that would make certain Iranians welcome foreign troops on Iranian soil, something that had happened in Iraq. Political analysts view these statements as signs that Rafsanjani’s patience with Ahmadinejad and his supporters is gradually nearing its end.

In his recent speech at Azad University, Rafsanjani identified Ayatollah Khamenei, Ayatollah Mousavi Ardebilli, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmad Khomeini, Jasbi and himself as the founding members of Azad University. “The committee members gave me the authority to personally pursue the issues related to the university, and I did not contact them except in special cases. After a while Hajj Ahmad [Khomeini] left us; and it was not appropriate for Ayatollah Khameinei, because of his position as the Supreme Leader, to stay on the board. Although Ayatollah Khameinei never submitted his resignation, he announced to me that he cannot have any responsibilities as a board member.”

At a time when Azad University, along with Tehran’s metro project – which Rafsanjani is known to have backed since the victory of the revolution in 1979 – are under severe pressure by Ahmadinejad’s administration, Rafsanjani’s remarks indicate that he does not plan to back down. Rumor has it that Rafsanjani has requested a time period during which both Mohsen Hashemi, his son who is in charge of managing the development of Tehran’s metro subway sysem, and Abdollah Jasbi, the head of Azad University, will step down – thus portraying the image that he is defending “institutions,” and not individuals.