TEHRAN – Iran and Russia are about to reach an agreement on mutually recognizing higher education degrees, Hadi Goudarzi, the counselor of the Iranian Embassy in the Russian Federation, has said.

Once the agreement is finalized, the governments of the two countries are expected to sign a document, TASS reported.

The document will cover the recognition of bachelor's, master's, postgraduate and doctoral diplomas.

"More than 90 percent of the agreement is ready, I think it will be signed at the level of the governments of Iran and Russia in the near future," TASS quoted Goudarzi as saying.

Moreover, Iran has just joined BRICS - comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - starting academic and scientific cooperation with Russia within the BRICS framework.

"I think there will be a lot of meetings between us during this year where new treaties on scientific and practical cooperation within the BRICS framework can be proposed," Goudarzi added.

Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Ethiopia became full members of BRICS as of January 1.

Scientific cooperation

In 2023, Mohammad Moqimi, the president of the University of Tehran, and Viktor Sadovnichy, the rector of the Lomonosov Moscow State University discussed ways to expand bilateral relations.

In a meeting that was held at the Sixth Forum of Rectors of Russian and Iranian Universities on April 27, the two sides announced readiness to exchange professors and students and boost joint research programs, IRNA reported.

The Sixth Forum of Rectors of Russian and Iranian Universities was organized in order to expand and deepen international cooperation in scientific, research, and academic fields between the top universities of the two countries.

Also, officials from the University of Gilan and the University of Lomonosov held a meeting to enhance cooperation.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 15th congress of the Eurasian University Association which was held on March 2, 2023 in Moscow, IRNA reported.

They discussed the improvement of inter-university cooperation, cultural and scientific exchange, and digitalization. The event was organized by Lomonosov Moscow State University.

In this meeting, the vice president of Moscow State University announced the university's readiness to implement the provisions of the memorandum of understanding between the two universities.

The proposal of conducting joint research, sending professors and doctoral students in the form of study opportunities, and holding joint academic courses are among the most important agreements between the two institutions.

MT/MG