TEHRAN, October 28. /TASS/. The immense potential of Russian-Iranian cooperation in tourism, culture and education remains underutilized, and intensified efforts in these areas are necessary, Russian Ambassador to Iran Alexey Dedov said in an interview with TASS.
"Significant potential remains untapped in tourism, culture and education. In the near future, a substantial increase in tourist flow could be achieved by opening new routes and increasing the scope and frequency of air travel. It is necessary to hold more joint cultural events and ensure regular exchanges of creative collectives," he stated.
Separately, the ambassador mentioned the education sector, where the main barrier to developing cooperation is the issue of mutual recognition of educational certificates. "Despite more than 300 cooperation agreements between our educational institutions, and despite the fact that over 9,000 Iranian students are studying in Russia, the number of Russian universities whose diplomas are recognized in Iran is extremely limited," Dedov emphasized, noting that recently Iran ceased to recognize diplomas from the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, which still has about 4,000 Iranian students enrolled.
The Russian ambassador identified administrative and technical barriers, illegal sanctions from third countries and insufficient awareness of business circles about mutual opportunities as the main obstacles in trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. At the same time, he assured that meticulous daily work is underway from both sides to resolve all pressing issues.
On October 18, the representative of Russia’s Agency for International Humanitarian Cooperation in Tehran, Liliya Pankina, told TASS that an increasing number of Iranians are choosing Russian universities for higher education, with medical specialties being particularly in demand. According to her, the number of students learning the Russian language is also growing in Iran.
In May, Head of Russia’s Agency for International Humanitarian Cooperation Yevgeny Primakov stated that the federal agency receives thousands of student applicants in Iran and CIS countries. He said that for the current academic year, 1,279 applications were submitted for 300 quota spots in the Islamic republic.