TEHRAN – Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has announced readiness to provide medical education services to Nicaragua.

He considered the sanctions as a reason for Iran's progress and self-sufficiency in the field of health, suggesting that a joint annual conference be held between the academicians of the two countries, IRNA reported.

He made the remarks in a meeting in Tehran on January 21 with Nicaraguan Health Minister Martha Reyes Alvarez.

Einollahi thanked Nicaragua for being the first country in the world to take the lead in using the Iran-made coronavirus vaccine.

He welcomed the idea of exchanging professors and students and cooperating in the field of medicine and medical equipment between the two countries, calling for drawing up documents in these fields.

He added that he will soon visit Cuba and try to visit Nicaragua as well to get to know the health system of this country.

The Nicaraguan official, for her part, referred to Nicaragua's effort to develop a family-oriented health system with comprehensive and free coverage, saying that she was interested in seeing Iran's achievements in the field of health.

Reyes welcomed Iran's offer of providing medical education services and expressed hope that her country would be able to benefit from Iran's expertise in the field of health, especially the internship of Nicaraguan students in Iran.

Bilateral ties

In December 2022, a comprehensive plan to enhance bilateral cooperation was agreed upon by the foreign ministries of Iran and Nicaragua.

The agreement was signed in Tehran by Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

Amir Abdollahian said Tehran is prepared to deepen the bilateral relationships in a variety of economic and commercial relations.

The senior Iranian diplomat described the agreement as a "new and strategic" initiative to improve ties between the two nations.

Nicaragua's foreign minister praised both his nation's cordial relations with Iran and their bilateral collaboration in international fora.

On January 20, the Rector of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua UNAN-Managua, Ramona Rodriguez, called for using the experiences of Iran for developing knowledge-based centers.

“In recent years, growth and technology centers have been set up in Nicaragua, and we would like to use Iran's experiences to strengthen and grow these centers and knowledge-based companies,” she said.

Rodriguez made the remarks in a meeting in Tehran on Thursday with the Iranian science minister, Mohammad-Ali Zolfigol, IRNA reported.

During the meeting, Rodriguez welcomed Zolfigol's proposal about starting a system of needs and ideas and Iran's readiness to share experiences with Nicaragua.

She went on to say that in Nicaragua, there is a national innovation center that operates under the supervision of the president and is in charge of coordinating the various technology and innovation sectors of the country.

“We also intend to launch a center like the system of ideas and needs,” she added.

The Nicaraguan official cited Iran's experience in setting up technical and vocational universities for training specialized forces to be very important and asked Iran to share its experiences in this field with Nicaragua.

Within the framework of the joint committee for scientific and technological cooperation, the transfer of these experiences should be pursued, she stressed.

The Iranian minister, for his part, said that after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, notable achievements have been made in the country's higher education sector, including ranking first in the region by publishing 78,000 articles in international journals in 2022.

When innovative ideas reach the stage of commercialization and presentation in the market, researchers can establish a knowledge-based company, he said.

The issue of setting up centers for teaching the Persian language in Nicaraguan universities was also proposed by the Iranian science minister.

MG