University students (illustrative)
University students (illustrative)Israel news photo: Flash 90

Iran has announced plans for a joint university with Turkey to expand scientific and technological cooperation, according to a statement issued by Tehran.

Arsalan Qorbani, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology, announced Monday the two nations would set up parallel university branches in Iran’s city of Tabriz, and the Turkish city of Wan.

But the plan, established in a joint Memorandum of Understanding signed by representatives of the two countries, has yet to be confirmed by the Turkish and Iranian governments. 

“We hope that Iran and Turkey’s joint university will be established in the next six months,” Qorbani told the FARS news agency. He added that Iran intends to draw upon the resources of other Iranian universities to advance the joint effort with Turkey.

Former Iranian Health Minister Marziyeh Vahid Dastijerdi emphasized during a visit to Ankara two years ago that Iran had a special interest in fostering projects that involved mutual cooperation with Turkey.

Mutual pacts between Tehran and Ankara go back as far as 2009, when the two countries signed an agreement to share advances in telecommunications technology.