The appointment for the first time of a cleric to head Iran's most prestigious university has unleashed a storm of protest from many students, who say he is not qualified for the job, newspapers said on Tuesday.
Scores of students chanting "Resign, resign" tried to disrupt a ceremony on Sunday to mark Ayatollah Amid Zanjani's appointment as president of Tehran University, the Sharq newspaper reported. "After leaving the building, Zanjani was pushed by the students and his turban fell off his head," the daily said.
Zanjani's appointment by the Higher Education Ministry is the latest in a major bureaucratic shake-up since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in August.
Critics of the president, who has vowed to tackle moral and economic corruption, say he has dumped competent managers in favour of inexperienced figures.
Students said they felt Zanjani did not have the right profile for the post.
"How can a seminary school graduate be installed as the head of Iran's oldest university?" student activist Mehran Ghasemzadeh told the Seda-ye Edalat newspaper. "He has no academic background."
Founded in 1934, Tehran University is the largest seat of higher learning in the country.
Similar protests were held in other universities and various pro-reform student organisations issued statements opposing Zanjani, the Etemad newspaper said.
Mohammad, a 20-year-old political science student, acknowledged the protests were unlikely to succeed. "We may get into trouble but we should express our demands," he told Reuters. But some students welcomed Zanjani.
"Zanjani used to teach law, I think he is the best choice for the post," Mohammad Sadegh Rezai, a law student at Tehran University told Seda-ye Edalat.