TEHRAN – More than 57,000 Iraqi nationals are studying in Iranian universities, said Hashem Dadashpour, head of the Organization of Student Affairs, in a meeting with the Iraqi deputy science minister Hazem Baqir Tahir.

In a meeting in Baghdad on Wednesday, Dadashpour expressed hope to provide short-term research opportunities for students from both countries, and Iranian students will be able to gain an understanding of the scientific context of Iraq.

A joint scientific committee between Iran and Iraq should be formed to recognize the capacities of the two countries.

Over 520,000 foreign students in Iran study for free. At the Iraqi ministry of science, we seek to implement the agreement signed by the two countries in recent years on the exchange of professors, joint research and research courses, short-term and long-term scholarships, Tahir said.

The Iranian minister of foreign affairs has said that more than 520,000 foreign students in Iran study for free and that the vaccination of Afghan asylum seekers has been considered and taken on a par with that of Iranian citizens.

Some 57,675 college students from 133 countries are studying in Iranian universities, many of whom have returned to their country with the outbreak of the pandemic.

Some 30,600 of the whole students are studying in universities affiliated with the Ministry of Science, while 25,000 others are receiving education in Azad University, and about 2,000 in medical universities.

Fifty-seven percent of the international students are studying for a master's degree, 27 percent for a bachelor's degree, and 15 percent for a Ph.D. degree, while the remaining one percent study at other levels.

Law, Persian literature, and computer engineering are the top three fields of study for foreign students in Iran, while civil engineering, business management, political science, English language and literature, Quran and hadith sciences, international relations, electrical engineering, and other majors with the highest number of non-Iranian students.

FB/MG