The Islamic Revolutionary Council and the issue of university: A review of negotiation proceedings of Revolutionary Council from 1979 to 1981

The victory of the 1979 Islamic revolution marked a new stage of academic life in Iran, especially affecting the relationship between the university and the political domain. The present article is seeking to review the documents of the Revolutionary Council; including resolutions and negotiation proceedings, examine the important period of February 1979 to July 1981 in order to determine what factors affected the decisions of this council. Accordingly, four-dimensional debates and resolutions were identified in this period to change the structure and arrangement, to manage current issues, to solve remaining problems from the past and, to respond to the demands and bargaining of different social and political groups.  Some of the resolutions have so far been reviewed by researchers, but the negotiation proceedings, although incomplete, have received less attention and analysis due to their recent publication. These negotiations, which include 10 months (March to December 1979), provide an interesting picture of the approaches of the revolution leaders regarding universities and have been analyzed with reference to the historical context. At first, the debates and resolutions are focused more on structural changes, but with the rapid emergence of problems, this is mixed with socio-political demands and pressures, and the council inevitably moves in several directions at the same time. This review shows that, firstly, in order to understand the evolution of academic universities in Iran after the revolution, we need to study the developments during the one-and-a-half-year period (1979 to 1981) after the victory of the revolution until the emergence of the Cultural Revolution. Secondly: the management and reconstruction of the higher education system in general, and the issue of the university in particular, has been an important concern for leaders and statesmen after the revolution, and they repeatedly spoke about the current developments, problems and unrests. However, there was no consensus or common perception among the members of the council, and there was anxiety about the power and position of the council and fear of what would probably happen due to the speed and extent of changes, has greatly influenced their stance toward the development of universities or students’ activities. The final result of this analytical presentation is not necessarily different from other studies, but perhaps it can draw a more accurate picture of a short and important period that is often given less attention and focus due to the importance of the Cultural Revolution.