President urges continued scientific progress, stronger regional ties
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday called for continued investment in scientific development and expanded regional and international cooperation, following a government briefing on the country’s research and innovation progress, the presidency’s official news website reported.
The call was made during a weekly cabinet meeting after the vice presidency for science and technology presented an overview of advances, ongoing challenges and proposals to strengthen Iran’s position in global scientific rankings. The report analyzed fluctuations in Iran’s scientific standing from 1959 to 2024.
Pezeshkian emphasized the need to maintain the pace of progress and support “knowledge-based and security-oriented” approaches, according to the report.
Earlier in the session, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni delivered a detailed account of a recent meeting of interior ministers from the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which was held in Tehran.
According to the minister, the summit resulted in decisions aimed at expanding trade cooperation, developing tourism ties, strengthening regional security coordination, and easing visa procedures among member states.
He said mutual recognition of driver’s licenses among ECO countries had also been placed on the agenda for a future session.
The vice president for science and technology Hossein Afshin then outlined current scientific achievements and obstacles, offering policy recommendations to further elevate Iran’s global research ranks.
Pezeshkian reiterated that sustaining scientific progress and deepening regional and international collaboration remain central to the government’s strategic priorities.
According to SCImago data released in March 2025 for the 2024 rankings, Iran’s position in terms of scientific publication output declined for the second consecutive year, falling one place to 17th worldwide. The ranking shows that Iran published 75,501 scientific papers last year, placing it second in the Middle East for total output.
Despite the drop in publication volume ranking, Iran maintained its 15th place globally in citation count for the fifth year in a row. SCImago data indicate that Iranian researchers accounted for 1.74% of global scientific output and 21.54% of research output in the Middle East over the past year — a share that has been gradually decreasing in recent years.
In March, Deputy Science Minister Peyman Salehi had noted that the margins between countries in the rankings had narrowed and warned that Iran’s position could slip by another place by late spring.