TEHRAN – Iran and Russia will expand academic cooperation, as well as student exchange.

Mohammad Javad Salmanpour, the deputy head of the Organization for Student Affairs, and Dmitry Kalinichenko, head of the Russian Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and the International Humanitarian Cooperation, met on Saturday in Tehran.

Currently, nearly 100,000 foreign nationals are studying in Iran, more than 90 percent of whom are from Iraq and Afghanistan. Kalinichenko, for his part, noted that there are 300 Iranian students with scholarships in Russia and that the number can increase in the future.

The purpose of the Russian Federal Agency in Iran is to select Iranian students for scholarships in Russian universities and organize events and Olympiads, he explained, adding, we are willing to cooperate with Iran for student exchange, and we also want the Russian language to be taught in Iran and Persian language in Russia.

Salmanpour also expressed interest to attract more Russian students to Iranian universities, referring to the expansion of student exchange between the two countries.

Currently, most of the Russian students in Iran are studying without a scholarship mostly in the fields of Persian language and literature, linguistics, etc., and the Islamic Republic welcomes the increasing number of foreign students in these fields, he said.

Leading in attracting international students

Currently, nearly 100,000 foreign nationals are studying in Iran, more than 90 percent of whom are from Iraq and Afghanistan and the rest are from other countries.

These students are studying in different fields of science, research and technology, health and medical education, and also in the fields of humanities, Islamic sciences, Persian language and literature, law, fundamentals of Islamic law, management fields, economics, psychology, social sciences, as well as engineering, agricultural sciences, animal sciences, and basic sciences.

Iran is among the 15 successful countries in attracting international students, according to Salmanpour.

We have the ability and capacity to have more than 250,000 foreign students by 2026, he stated.

According to unofficial statistics, more than 300,000 Iranian students study abroad.

Russia is one of the prioritized countries for scientific and technological relations with Iran. Since 2016, various specialized working groups formed by the two countries in the fields of space, aerospace, cognitive sciences, biotechnology, nanotechnology, university cooperation, mega-science, information technology, energy, and regional cooperation.

During the last 5-6 years, the capacity of international interactions has been considered by Iran and Russia, and this cooperation has expanded by forming bilateral agreements through inter-sectoral coordination.

FB/MG