Editing Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (section)

== Famous events ==
After the controversial appearance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University on 25 September 2007, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad invited President Bush to travel to Iran and speak on campus about a range of issues, including the Holocaust, terrorism, human rights and U.S. foreign policy. The invitation asked Bush to answer questions from students and professors "just the same way" that Ahmadinejad took questions "despite all the insults directed at him." The White House said that Bush would be willing to travel to Iran, but under different circumstances: "President Bush looks forward to traveling to a democratic Iran, an Iran where its leaders allow freedom of speech and assembly for all of its people and an Iran where the leaders mourn the victims of the Holocaust, not call for the destruction of Israel," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/01/AR2007100101462.html|title=An Iranian University Invites Bush to Speak|first=Robin|last=Wright|date=October 2, 2007|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iranianuk.com/20070516182400031/%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AA-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AC-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B4|title=دعوت دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد از جورج بوش|date=December 12, 2019|website=iranianuk.com}}</ref>

Some Iranian educational institutions such as Ferdowsi University of Mashhad have also been building their presence in Afghanistan. As Iranian officials announced in February 2009, the university opened a campus in Herat (named after a Persian poet who resided in Herat during the eleventh century)—the efforts that allow Iran to engage directly with Afghanistan's population and develop close ties with religious and ethnic minorities.<ref>"Iran Universities To Open Branches Abroad," Fars News Agency, February 15, 2009. Available at World News Connection.</ref>

In 2011, Ferdowsi University's Department of Engineering in Mashhad said it would segregate students by gender in nearly 50 courses.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/iran_gender_segregation/2294218.html|title=Iran University Segregates Genders|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=February 2011 }}</ref> One year before, a few general courses at Ferdowsi, such as general mathematics and physics, imposed separate classes for men and women.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20110204224833806|title=IRAN: Growing separation of genders in universities|website=University World News}}</ref> The disciplinary restrictions imposed on students, particularly female students, had been on the rise since June 2009, in many cases accompanied with insults and degradation of students.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2011/01/student-mistreatment-and-gender-segregation-at-mashads-ferdowsi-university/|title=Student Mistreatment And Gender Segregation At Mashad's Ferdowsi University|date=January 6, 2011}}</ref>