TEHRAN – The second cultural-educational course for foreign students studying in Iranian universities will start on Friday.Some 500 students from more than 15 countries are projected to participate in the four-day event which will be held at Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran, IRNA reported.Holding educational workshops and visiting scientific and cultural centers are scheduled.The first edition of the event was held last year at Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran.The Seventh National Development Plan (2023-2027) has obliged the Ministry of Science to increase the number of foreign nationals studying in the country.The plan emphasizes the need to boost science diplomacy by increasing foreign students by up to 10 percent, IRNA reported.It also highlights admitting non-Iranian scientists in research and technology education fields in universities and government institutes, as well as developing student exchange programs.Currently, more than 94,000 foreign students are studying in Iran, of whom 24 percent (about 27,000 students), are studying in government universities.Therefore, international students comprise about three percent of some 3.2 million university students studying in the country.The minister of science, research, and technology has said the situation will be facilitated for foreign nationals to study in the country’s universities.The universities highly welcome foreign students and there is constructive competition between the universities in this field, Science Minister Mohammad-Ali Zolfigol has said.In fact, the ground is ready and the conditions should only be eased to increase the number of foreign students, he added.“Plans are underway to facilitate the issuance of visas for non-Iranian students as much as possible.”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 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.The Ministry of Science is planning to upgrade an online system titled “Study in Iran” in order to familiarize foreign students with universities as well as the conditions and costs of living in the country.For the time being, the system is operating in four languages of Persian, English, Arabic, and Chinese, deputy science minister Hashem Dadashpour said.“We plan to add three more languages, namely Russian, French, and Spanish in the next few months,” he added, IRNA reported.The system actually plays the role of an intermediary between universities and applicants for studies in Iran, Dadashpour said, noting: “We briefly introduce the universities with the license to admit international students, and at the same time, the applicants can be connected to the desired university through special links.”This possibility is also provided for the applicants to study in Iran to register and send the admission application while being familiarized with the cultural and academic situation in Iran, and at the same time to learn about the experiences of international students in the country, he highlighted.Also, an exhibition will be held from November 14-19 with the aim of introducing the advantages of studying in Iran for international students, he said.“The first section of the exhibition is related to Persian language teaching centers, and the second section is related to private institutions for attracting international students and institutions of target countries.”“The third section is dedicated to activists who are interested in attracting international students to Iran.

The fourth section is related to scientific and technological achievements of science and technology parks and knowledge-based companies, and finally, the fifth section is related to the cultures and customs of foreign countries.”MG