Editing University of Tehran (section)

==Political role==
[[File:UT mosque minaret.jpg|thumb|right|UT's central mosque has been a center for religious and political activity in Tehran during the past 30 years]]
University of Tehran's central place in Iranian elite circles has made it the setting for many political events and cultural works. It was in front of the gates of this school that [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|The Shah's]] army opened fire on dissident students, killing many and further triggering the [[Iranian Revolution|1979 revolution]] of Iran. It was there and 20 years later in July 1999 that, albeit, a much smaller number of dissident students confronted the police.
University of Tehran (UT) has always been a bastion of political movement and ideology. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the main campus of the university and its surrounding streets have been the site for Tehran's [[Friday prayers]].

The political and social role of the University of Tehran in the Iranian domestic arena has continued to be so pronounced that in November 2005 (to February 2008) a senior Islamic scholar became chancellor(president) of the university, replacing Faraji-dana (professor of electrical engineering faculty). Ayatollah [[Abbasali Amid Zanjani]] (عباسعلی عميد زنجانی) is a professor in law, is known for his strong ties to Ayatollah [[Khomeini]] in the 1979 revolution, and had spent time in the Shah's prisons before the Islamic Revolution. In February 2008, an economist, Farhad Rahbar, a former vice president of Iran and head of Management and Planning Organization of Iran, became the new (31st) chancellor of the university.

One hundred and nineteen faculty members of the University of Tehran are said to have resigned on 15 June 2009 to protest the attack on university dorms in the wake of contested [[Iranian presidential election, 2009|2009 presidential elections]]:<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/tehran-universitys-faculty-resigns-en-masse.html|title=Tehran University's Faculty Resigns En Masse|magazine=The Atlantic|date=15 September 2009|access-date=16 September 2011}}</ref> although clear follow-up data is hard to establish, it seems that most or all resignations were not accepted.