Iran's Educational Diplomacy in the Muslim World

Like China's Confucius Institutes, which are designed to share the country's culture with the rest of the world, Iran has attempted to spread Shia values throughout the Muslim world by its creation of Al-Mustafa International University. This University has branches in Afghanistan and Malaysia, which the piece by Abdolmoghset Banikamal and Wahabuddin Ra'ees explores.

According to the authors, Ayatollah Khomeini instituted a plan of educational diplomacy following the 1979 Revolution with the aim of "promoting Shia core doctrinal values of 'succession' (imamate), and its corollaries of 'waiting' (intizâr), 'representation' (viläyat), 'rule of jurisconsult' (vilâyat e faqīh), and 'dissimulation' (taqîyyah); as well as this country's quest for soft power and greater influence in the politics of the Muslim world."

The piece "Iran's Educational Diplomacy in the Muslim World: Activities of Al-Mustafa International University in Malaysia and Afghanistan" was published in the Winter 2018 edition of Insight Turkey and is available here.

Photo by Mostafameraji I CC BY-SA 4.0 (Image was cropped and resized). Image of Alireza Arafi, Chairman of Al-Mustafa International University.