Yaser Abdul-Zahra al-Hajjaj referred to the education of thousands of Iraqi students in more than 80 Iranian universities and new restrictions on the education of Iraqi employees abroad.

Universities are not only centers of education and research, but also bridges for dialogue, confidence-building, and the exchange of experience among scientists of countries, especially Iran and Iraq, he added.

Referring to the holding of two rounds of the Iran-Iraq science week, he said in these events, more than 70 to 80 university presidents from the two countries came together and more than 250 memoranda of understanding were signed between Iranian and Iraqi universities, which was a very good experience in expanding scientific relations between the two countries.

He also lauded the establishment of a branch of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Karbala.

Al-Hajjaj described the level of scientific and cultural relations between Iran and Iraq as deep and strategic.

If the two countries’ cooperation model is based solely on student recruitment, in the near future we will face major limitations and challenges, he stated.

Referring to the MoUs concluded between Iranian and Iraqi universities, he stated that these documents contain important topics, but expressed the hope that the agreements will advance past the memorandum stage and be implemented.

He called for exchanging professors and researchers as one of the important axes of cooperation.

Al-Hajjaj listed medical issues, agriculture, dust storms, problems in the oil and gas sector, and modern technologies, especially artificial intelligence, as among the suitable fields for joint scientific and research cooperation between Iran and Iraq.

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