War-damaged universities, Pasteur Institute to be rebuilt via tax credits, official says
The Iranian government will begin rebuilding several leading universities and the Pasteur Institute using a tax credit financing mechanism involving banks, a senior science and technology official said on Sunday, following damage sustained during the 40-day US-Israeli war against the country.
The process will cover four major universities and the Pasteur Institute, with financing arranged through tax credits despite government budget constraints, IRNA quoted the vice president for science, technology and knowledge-based economy Hossein Afshin, as saying on Sunday.
“With limited fiscal space, the government has struck an agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to use tax credits to fund these projects, with participation from the banking sector,” he said.
According to IRNA, a joint meeting was held to review and finalize the operational framework for rebuilding Sharif University of Technology, Shahid Beheshti University, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran University of Science and Technology, and the Pasteur Institute using tax credit capacity.
The official said reconstruction must be accelerated given the strategic and technological importance of the affected institutions.
Afshin said four universities and the Pasteur Institute will be rebuilt through bank-coordinated projects, with the completed facilities ultimately handed over to the institutions themselves.
He added that 32 research centers across the country had been damaged during the conflict, with priority in the current phase given to selected parts of the five institutions due to their position at the forefront of science and technology, while other centers would be addressed in later stages.
Rectors of the five institutions presented reports on the extent of the damage during the meeting.