TEHRAN – According to the Seventh National Development Plan (2023-2028), the country is projected to increase the number of international students to 320,000 from currently around 60,000.

To this end, the higher education system needs to adopt some institutional and developmental approaches in organizations associated with foreign students, Mehr news agency reported.

In this regard, the parliament research center has evaluated Iran's situation in attracting international students and measures that need to be taken into account. 

According to the report, the number of foreign students in the country has grown from 13,767 in Iranian year 1394 (2015 – 2016) to 68,563 in 1403 (2024 -2025). The number of educational institutions that are allowed to accept foreign students has noticeably increased from 45 to 206 over the past decade.

The report also shows that 13 acts, such as providing short-time sabbaticals, granting visas, establishing a center for foreign student graduates, and holding remedial courses, have been developed and officially accepted by the parliament as part of educational charter for foreign students; however, they have not been implemented in time. 

Also major organizations and institutions of the country have no participation in planning cultural programs for foreign students.

A lack of strategic comprehensive marketing skills, and bureaucratic and time-consuming correspondence were among other recognized problems.

The parliament research center has put forward some proposals to help attract more international students. The most important one highlights adopting an approach that focuses on generating income, soft cultural power, and expanding science. 

The other suggestion emphasizes the importance of boosting south-south international relations, that is developing political and economic interactions with highly populated countries like Pakistan, India, Egypt and some countries in Central Asia.

Ongoing evaluation of other countries’ policies in attracting students, developing software and hardware infrastructures, stable and secure network, as well as increasing the number of scholarships are among other suggested solutions.

Before the US-Israeli war against Iran, nearly 60,000 foreign students from 101 countries, mainly from Afghanistan, India, Iraq, and Pakistan, were studying in Iran.

The Ministry of Science has announced that educational programs for foreign university students present in the country will continue despite the unfavorable conditions caused by the imposed war.

All universities have been asked to ensure that all international students benefit from the educational facilities and capacities of the universities by adopting innovative measures, including preparing offline educational packages, developing intensive summer training courses, and anticipating the possibility of completing practical courses in the coming years, in addition to continuing online education, IRNA reported.

These measures and plans should be implemented in a way that ensures that international students do not suffer academic, training, or even financial losses due to the conditions resulting from the imposed war.

Science Minister Hossein Simaei-Sarraf has said over 30 Iranian universities had been directly attacked by the United States and Israel since the war began in late February.

Five university professors and more than 60 students had been killed in the strikes, added Simaei-Sarraf, describing attacks on Iranian infrastructure as “crimes against humanity.”

“The main reason the enemy targeted this sensitive infrastructure was that they did not want us to gain access to this technology,” he said, adding that many Iranians abroad have contacted the university, offering to help fund its restoration.

Since the beginning of the attacks, a series of extensive assaults on Iranian scientific and academic centers including the Iran University of Science and Technology, ShahidBeheshti University, the Iranian Space Research Institute, Abbaspour University, and the Pasteur Institute of Tehran, have drawn global attention.

These attacks go beyond conventional military operations and carry broad strategic, cultural, and scientific implications. Analyzing these strikes highlights both the fear of foreign powers toward Iran’s scientific progress and the necessity of emphasizing the resilience of local science and knowledge in the face of violence and bombing.

Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure on such a scale can, according to credible legal sources, constitute clear violations of international humanitarian law. Under the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law, civilian locations, including schools and universities, are generally protected from attacks.

The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings (WUR) 2026 has placed 101 Iranian universities among the top universities in the world in 11 subject areas, compared to 81 universities in 10 subject areas in 2025.

These ten subject rankings include arts and humanities; business and economics; clinical and health; computer science; education; engineering; life sciences; physical sciences; psychology;  social sciences, and Law.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2026 evaluated 1,165 universities from 84 countries and territories, using 18 performance indicators categorised under five core pillars, including Teaching (evaluates teaching reputation, student-to-staff ratio, doctorate-to-bachelor’s ratio, doctorate-to-staff ratio and institutional income), Research Environment (focuses on research reputation, income, and productivity), Research Quality (includes citation impact, research strength, research excellence, and influence, Industry (measures income from industry partnerships and patents),and International Outlook (accounts for international students, staff and co-authorship).

MT/MG