TEHRAN – Iran is among the 15 successful countries in attracting international students, Mohammad Javad Salmanpour, the deputy head of the Organization for Student Affairs, said on Monday.

The education of foreign students in Iran has grown significantly compared to previous years, even last year, it has doubled compared to the previous years, he said.

However, it is far from the desired position; Because Iranian universities have higher capacities in all respects than the universities of regional or European countries, he noted.

“The countries of Turkey, UAE, Russia, and recently Saudi Arabia, along with Egypt and Jordan, are active in attracting international students. Turkey has currently accepted more than 250,000 students.

Every foreign student who enters Iran and starts working in certain jobs can create more than 10 to 15 jobs for Iranian youth. Iran has the ability and capacity to have more than 250,000 foreign students by 2026,” he stated.

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.

“To make elite students stay in the country, we plan to grant special residence to foreign elites in order to live in the country like Iranian citizens,” he highlighted.

Every foreign student who enters Iran and starts working in certain jobs can create more than 10 to 15 jobs for Iranian youth, he noted.

According to official statistics, more than 95,000 Iranians are studying in various countries, with the largest number studying in America, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Canada, Malaysia, England, Russia, Australia, Hungary, Cyprus, and France, respectively.

This year, the number of Iranians studying in Turkey has reached more than 12,000, he added.

Foreign nationals constitute 1.64% of Iran’s student population

Currently, foreign nationals constitute 1.64 percent of the country’s student population, which is about 0.14 percent higher than the goal set by the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021), Mohammad Javad Salmanpour, the deputy head of the Organization for Student Affairs, said in April.

Twenty-five percent of the foreign students studying in Iranian universities are Afghan nationals, he added.

Afghan students attend Iranian universities in three ways; some enter the university by participating in the national entrance exam of Iran, and some others receive admission from universities that have non-Iranian student licenses. The third group also attended the country's universities through scholarships, he explained.

Health insurance coverage, longer residency, shorter visa processing time, and awarding exemplary students are among the conditions provided for foreign nationals studying in Iran.

FB/MG