Iran views education as a core component of its mission to propagate Khomeinist and anti-Western ideology at home and abroad and has accordingly invested heavily in international university endeavors. Ayatollah Khomeini sought the creation of a revolutionary, clerical vanguard to educate the masses of Iran and other Islamic countries in order to impel them to rise up against what he considered “illegitimate” forms of government.

In his pre-Revolutionary treatise, “Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist,” which laid out the blueprint for establishing Islamist governance predicated on the principle of velayat-e faqih, Khomeini expounded upon the importance of education, urging his followers to become Islamic scholars so they could convey “Islam accurately to the people. Islam is now a stranger; no one knows Islam properly. You must convey Islam and its ordinances to the people so that they understand what Islam is, what Islamic government is, what prophethood and imamate mean, and in the broadest terms, why Islam was revealed and what its goals are. Thus Islam will gradually become known, and, God willing, an Islamic government will one day be established.” Iran’s international university offerings have allowed the regime to introduce students from over 100 countries to Khomeinist revolutionary precepts. Many of these students go on to effectively serve as goodwill ambassadors for Iran within their home countries, facilitating the spread of Iran’s pernicious ideology to all corners of the globe.