Natanz, one of the towns where Iran has its nuclear facilities. Drones and uranium enrichment centrifuges are often the only picture that emerges when one speaks of science and technology in Iran. Photo: iStock
Despite sanctions and access restrictions, Iran's scientific output has endured. The Global Innovation Index 2025 places the country 70th among 139 economies, and in innovation outputs, Iran sits at 46th globally. Ranked 30th in the Nature Index (2025), its research institutes anchor a growing knowledge base.
Iran evokes familiar images. A Shahed 136 drone, traversing in a deadly arc across the sky. Uranium enrichment centrifuges humming behind thick walls at Natanz and Fordow (towns where Iran’s nuclear facilities are located), buried under a mountain. This is often the only picture that emerges when one speaks of science and technology in Iran. Occasionally, a different memory surfaces, Maryam Mirzakhani, the mathematician who, in 2014, became the first woman to receive the prestigious Fields Medal for her work.
Yet, beyond this well-worn script, another story remains hidden. One that rarely makes it past the gatekeepers of global media. And when it does, it appears in fragments, scattered, understated, easy to miss unless one reads between the lines. A surprise awaits those who dare to look.
The Global Innovation Index 2025 places the country 70th among 139 economies, and in innovation outputs, the tangible fruits of research, Iran sits at 46th globally. Iran is fourth to fifth worldwide in nanotechnology publications and production.
Researchers such as Dr Mahmood Barani and Dr Hassan Namazi have contributed to internationally recognised work in nanomedicine and drug delivery systems. These are not isolated efforts but part of a broader pattern, often against the odds.
Also read: Why activists have little hope of war and Ayatollah’s death bringing change for women in Iran
In biotechnology, Iran leads the Islamic world. Scientific journals rating site SCImago's 2024 numbers place Iran at the top in the Islamic world, with 1,111 papers published in the field of biotechnology, and fifteenth globally.
When COVID-19 swept the globe, Iran faced a double blow. International sanctions complicated vaccine imports, adding layers of difficulty to an already dire situation. The response came from within. Swiftly, Iran developed and produced multiple domestic vaccines, including COVIran Barekat, an inactivated virus vaccine. PastoCoVac, a recombinant protein vaccine, was developed jointly with Cuba and another vaccine, Fakhra Vaccine, was also developed.
Institutions such as the Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology have gained international recognition, particularly in stem cell research and regenerative medicine. CAR T-cell gene therapy, an emerging, high-potential treatment for cancers, has seen Iranian researchers successfully treat a patient with blood cancer, leukaemia. Similarly, work in genetic engineering and medical biotechnology continues to expand, often with limited laboratory resources.
Institutions such as the Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology have gained international recognition, particularly in stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Representational image. iStock
Hasti-Sadat Hosseini, an Iranian woman inventor, recently hit international headlines. Her stem cell-based therapy for controlling Human papillomavirus (HPV) promotes cervical wound healing through stem cell grafts. The invention claimed the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) prize at the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, 2025. In another instance, scientist Heydar Heydari Khoyi developed a laboratory model of a human embryo using induced pluripotent stem cells (cells that can self-renew by dividing and can form into the three primary germ cell layers of an embryo), enabling large-scale studies of early development without using actual embryos.
The Zuljanah Satellite Launch Vehicle, with its two solid-fuel stages paired with a supplementary liquid-fuel stage, is an indigenous development. It has a modest payload capacity of 220 kilograms and a maximum altitude of 500 kilometres. Its development by Iranian scientists without outside support surprised the world. Alongside this, indigenous drone & missile technologies continue to develop.
The Sina Robotic Surgery System, developed by Iranian S&T, enables remote surgical procedures. Such systems place Iran among a small group of countries capable of producing and exporting surgical robotics.
Iran's position in global science is not merely anecdotal. Ranked 30th in the Nature Index (2025), its research institutions, such as the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, and the University of Tehran, anchor a growing knowledge base in Iran.
In pharmacology, toxicology, radiology, and nuclear medicine, Iran tops the region. In the physical sciences, it is placed second, according to the Nature Index. Aerospace engineering, nuclear technology, and related engineering fields are notable for satellite launches, drone technology, and indigenous aerospace capabilities, all of which are advancing despite restrictions. Iran has shown strong performance in specialised areas such as bio-fuels, smart materials and artificial intelligence (specifically hardware accelerators).
Also read: Why Iran's strike on Israel’s Haifa has reminded some in Mysore of a battle over 100 years old
Research and Development funding remains limited, typically 0.5 to 0.7 per cent of GDP, as per UNESCO science indicators. Economic pressures have not relented. And yet, the researcher density tells a different story. The country reports approximately 2,240 researchers per million people (2021), a figure well above the global average (1,420 per million) and significantly higher than India’s (201 per million). Even when compared with China (1,849 to 2,000+ per million), the numbers are significant. They point to sustained investment in higher education and research institutions that have persisted despite challenges posed by brain drain. State-funded universities and focused research institutes are the backbone of the science and technology ecosystem in Iran.
The UNCTAD Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Review of Iran (2016) traced three waves in the building of the science and technology ecosystem in the country — higher education development in the 1990s, research and emerging technologies infrastructure in the 2000s, and transition to an innovation and knowledge economy in the 2010s. The report also points out that paradoxically, international sanctions spurred domestic science and technology development, leading to an indigenous innovation approach.
An equally notable aspect lies in women’s participation. Women’s literacy among young people is nearly 99 per cent, and women constitute around 58–62 per cent of university students, according to UNESCO science indicators. In PhD and doctoral programmes, women students are approximately 58 per cent. In several disciplines, particularly the life sciences, women make up the majority.
In PhD and doctoral programmes, women students are approximately 58 per cent. In several disciplines, particularly the life sciences, women make up the majority. Representational image. iStock
In STEM tertiary education, women constitute 25 per cent of the student population, way ahead of the United States (12.7 per cent in 2021). In life and medical sciences, biology and chemistry, women dominate, often accounting for 50 to 60 per cent or more. Engineering, physics, and core tech fields tell a different story, though; typically, 20 to 30 per cent are female students, show the UNESCO indicators.
Women's participation increased post-1979 policies. Free tuition, a cultural emphasis on education, liberal scholarships, in particular to women candidates, led to the promotion of large-scale participation by women in education. Further, women often outperform men in many entrance exams and dominate certain faculties. UNESCO's adjusted gender-parity index for STEM education ranks Iran above the United States and several European countries.
Also read: How India’s unorganised workforce has been impacted by the war in Iran
The prowess of Iran, or that of the region which today forms the country, in the fields of science and technology is not recent. It has been a cradle of knowledge production since antiquity. The Zagros Mountains in western Iran, for instance, saw the domestication of wheat, barley, lentils, and peas. Pistachio, almond and walnut have deep ecological roots in Iranian soil. Then came the Persian wheel, the saqiya in Arabic, the rahat in North India: a gear-driven, animal-powered water-lifting device that spread across West Asia and the Indian subcontinent between the 12th and 17th centuries. Small garden plots gave way, in many places, to field-level irrigation, making possible the growing of crops such as sugarcane and, in some regions, rice. Alongside, mechanical knowledge circulated: gears, motion and mill technologies finding new uses in different landscapes across Eurasia.
Between the 9th and 12th centuries, scholars from Persia (the region now known as Iran) shaped the course of global science. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi systematised linear and quadratic equations, laying the foundations of modern algebra; his work with Hindu numerals so influential that “algorithm” and “algebra” derive from his name and title. Omar Khayyam, poet, mathematician, astronomer, reformed the calendar at the request of Sultan Malik-Shah, producing the Jalali calendar in 1079 CE, one of the most accurate solar calendars of its time. In medicine, Ibn Sina (Avicenna)’s Canon brought together Greek, Persian and Indian traditions into a text that travelled widely across Eurasia, shaping learning for generations.
In modern-day Iran, however, fatwas from the ‘Supreme Leader’ draw clear boundaries in Iran. According to a Fatwa issued way back in the 1990s, research on the development, production, stockpiling, or use of nuclear weapons is religiously forbidden, haram. Reproductive cloning, that is, the creation of a full cloned human being, is explicitly prohibited. Generating embryos specifically for research, rather than using surplus IVF embryos, is forbidden under Iran's bioethics rules. Any genetic research whose primary aim is eugenics, improving the human gene pool, selecting superior traits, or non-therapeutic enhancement is also prohibited.
Nonetheless, therapeutic cloning, somatic cell nuclear transfer for stem-cell research, is permitted. Researchers from Iran are noted for their work in these areas.
And then comes the surprise. Teaching and research on Darwinian evolution, both in general biology and human evolution, are not prohibited. It forms part of the school curriculum and textbooks. It remains an active area of teaching and research. Iranian institutions conduct and publish research on ancient DNA, genetic makeup in the Iranian population, human genome studies, and population genetics.
Ayatollah Khamenei's 2018 statement on evolution drew on Rumi's notion of evolution as a spiritual and teleological process, a longing to return to God. It distinguished the materialistic, Darwinian view from an Islamic philosophical notion of spiritual evolution. Hence, scientific research or teaching of biological evolution is not considered contrary to Islam. Darwinian evolution, natural selection, adaptation, and speciation find their place in official high-school biology textbooks, part of the national curriculum for decades, without any kind of censorship.
In this regard, Iran sits in stark contrast with its neighbours. Turkey (since 2017), Syria (after regime change), Iraq (after the regime change), Afghanistan (under Taliban), Pakistan (partially), and Saudi Arabia have banned or severely restricted teaching and research in evolution. Like Iran, it must be noted that Malaysia and Indonesia have no such bans.
Despite decades of sanctions and access restrictions, Iran's scientific output has not merely endured; it has expanded in the past few decades.
