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, the largest and the top university among all branches of Islamic Azad University academic organization, established in 1982, originally as the Islamic Azad University of Tehran.
The university campuses rest on 297,904 m2 (3,206,610 sq ft) of various districts of Tehran.
It offers approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines such as sciences, engineering, art, architecture, humanities and social sciences.
Contents
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.
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. 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.
Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch is the very first branch established under the university system which is known as Islamic Azad University. In its early days, the university lacked sufficient funds and facilities to operate, sorely relying on donations made by people and government. The initial endowment was about 100,000 Rials.
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. 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.
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)
Campus
The university has 13 Faculties:
The university has three campuses:
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 2025-2026
Faculty of Engineering
Programs and majors
In academic year of 2025-2026:
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
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Computer Engineering
Department of Nuclear 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:
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.
In 2013, a total number of 11,789 and 6,061 applications were received for undergraduate and graduate programs respectively.
Rankings
Islamic World Science Citation Database
2011: third among Islamic Azad University campuses
SCImago rankings
2012: International rank : 231, National rank : 1 (Islamic Azad University)
2013: International rank : 87, National rank : 1 (Islamic Azad University)
2025: International rank: 9,456, National rank: 143 (Islamic Azad University)
Notable alumni and people
Alumni
As of June 2010, the university has 176,973 alumni which makes it the biggest number among all branches of Islamic Azad University.
Athletics
Several students have won medals in International competitions while studying at the university.
Other notable sportspeople at the university include Ali Daei, Karim Ansarifard, Mohammad Mayeli Kohan, Akbar Mohammadi, Mahmoud Miran and Arash Miresmaeili.