Iran urges overhaul of global development rankings
Senior Iranian policymakers and academics called for a sweeping revision of international development rankings during the 15th International Conference on Progress (ICP-2026) in Tehran on May 19-20, arguing that prevailing global indicators fail to reflect the political resilience, social cohesion and strategic independence of emerging nations.
The two-day conference, held both in person and virtually under the theme “Convergence and Progress”, brought together Iranian and foreign scholars, researchers and university professors to examine the social, political, cultural and economic dimensions of development in the Islamic world.
Sadegh Vaez-Zadeh, head of the Supreme Council and Center for the Islamic-Iranian Progress Model, said existing international classifications that divide states into categories such as “developed”, “developing” or “advanced” were no longer sufficient to portray the realities of national progress.
He said such rankings, despite criticism over methodological bias, continue to shape foreign trade, international investment, tourism and the global credibility of nations, making engagement with them strategically unavoidable.
Referring to recent regional tensions, Vaez-Zadeh said several indicators demonstrating Iran’s national convergence, defensive capability, political stability and relative economic resilience had become more visible under pressure.
He added that many internationally recognized measurements overlook these dimensions despite their growing significance in assessing state capacity and endurance.
The Expediency Council member urged the Iranian government to establish a specialized inter-agency committee tasked with reviewing the country’s standing in global indices and preparing scientific critiques and reform proposals for submission to international organizations through diplomatic channels.
He further proposed that, if international institutions fail to adopt such revisions, emerging multilateral blocs including BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation could jointly formulate alternative scientific frameworks for assessing national progress.
Vaez-Zadeh also called on the United Nations Secretary-General to create a balanced international committee, preferably under the supervision of the UN General Assembly, to reassess indicators produced by bodies such as UNESCO, the UN Development Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization in light of new scientific and technological realities.
Citing an earlier Iranian initiative in the early 2000s, he said Tehran had previously compiled national indicators in science, culture, education and technology and submitted them to the United Nations, which later incorporated parts of the data into its statistical yearbooks.
Conference secretary Hadi Akbarzadeh said the event focused on the interrelationship between convergence and progress across four principal spheres: Society, politics, culture and economics. He added that justice, spirituality and rationality had been identified as the three foundational pillars of the Islamic-Iranian model of progress and national unity.
A total of 146 papers were submitted to the conference, of which 82 were accepted following peer review, including 61 oral presentations and 21 poster sessions.