TEHRAN – Iran is developing academic relations with African and Latin American countries both in exchanging students and professors, Vahid Haddadi-Asl, the Iranian deputy science minister, has said.

Now, scientific relations and cooperation are established with Muslim countries, China and Russia at a high level, he said, IRNA reported.

“Regarding African countries, relations are growing strong and we have favorable relations with some Latin American countries,” he added.

In general, the Ministry of Science is working on the four major fields of student exchange, transfer of professors, expansion of Persian language and literature, and finally technological and innovative exchanges, he highlighted.

A total of 94,406 foreign students from 91 countries are studying in Iranian universities, according to statistics released in the Iranian year 1400 (March 2021-March 2022).

One of the policies of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology is to try to promote diversity in the admission of international students, ILNA quoted deputy science minister Hashem Dadashpour as saying.

In other words, "admitting from all countries and sending only to top universities," he added.

“We are determined and try to admit students from all nationalities, although, in line with the goals and strategic policies of higher education, we have priority over the countries of origin for admitting students.”

“Now we have students from 91 nationalities in the country's universities, some of them are from European and American countries,” Dadashpour said.

Naturally, a higher percentage of students is from neighboring countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, he noted.

“Our universities offer all the courses required in the doctoral, master's, and bachelor's degrees. Of course, fields such as law, computer, electronics engineering, medicine, accounting, Persian language and literature, civil engineering, business management, physical education, economics, Arabic language and literature, English language, psychology, mechanical engineering, and chemical engineering are more popular than other fields.”

The Ministry of Science has facilitated residence for university students from Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria, Dadashpour said in March.

The possibility of staying during studies for students from these countries has been provided in some provinces and soon this issue will be extended to all parts of the country.

Students from these countries can enter and leave the country four times per year, he added.

Obtaining a residence permit every year and the requirement to do so is one of the problems of international students, he highlighted.

In this regard, through negotiations with several countries, including Syria and Lebanon, the problem of residence during the study has been solved.

For students of other countries, including Afghanistan, a three-year residence permit is issued from the second year of their studies, and students from this country can also enter and leave Iran without any problems, he explained.

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.

The number of foreign students will double in Iranian universities in the next three years.

Iran is among the 15 successful countries in attracting international students, according to Mohammad Javad Salmanpour, the deputy head of the Organization for Student Affairs.

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

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

MG