Ambassador of Tajikistan visits ATU

 Report by the Directorate for International Academic Cooperation–

On Monday, 18 September 2023, Dr Nizomiddin Shamsiddinzoda Zohidi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran, together with the Embassy's cultural advisor had a visit to Allameh Tabataba'i University (ATU) and talked about the possible grounds for academic cooperation between ATU and Tajik universities.

At the outset of the meeting, Dr Abdollah Motamedi, ATU President, presented a welcome speech, provided a brief overview of the major facts and figures about ATU and said: "A significant number of ATU professors are serving the Iranian government at minister, director and parliamentary levels. Our professors are renowned internationally, and this is one of ATU's great capacities."

ATU President then pointed to the university's extensive international partnerships with universities and HE institutes abroad and said: "Students from about 30 countries are studying at ATU. Owing to the existing linguistic and historical commonalities between Iran and Tajikistan, we are well prepared to learn more about Tajik universities' capacities and the possible ways for synergies between our universities."

In the next section of the meeting, the Ambassador of Tajikistan added: "We have heard a lot about Allameh Tabataba'i University and consider the university as a prestigious one in Iran. I hope this visit will be the beginning of further bilateral cooperation. We have a common language, history, and culture, and this is a suitable platform for strengthening cooperation, especially in the field of academic cooperation." Dr Zohidi then pointed to the history of relations between Tajikistan and Iran and the innumerable agreements and cooperation documents signed between the two countries, saying that 40% of the documents belong to cooperation in the fields of culture, science, literature, and academic relations.

The Ambassador of Tajikistan then added that the holding of ceremonies for the cultural weeks of Tajikistan in Iran and the cultural weeks of Iran in Tajikistan as well as Tajikistan's presence as the Guest of Honour at the Tehran International Book Fair are all signifying the desire to expand cultural ties between the two countries. He then invited ATU President to visit Tajikistan and participate in the international conferences entitled "Historical and Cultural Geography of the Shahnameh" and "The 1050th Anniversary of Biruni".

At the end of this meeting, Dr Davoud Hosseinpour, Vice President for Research at ATU, invited Dr Zohidi and other prominent Tajik professors to teach in ATU's Linguistics Department and added: "According to its mission to expand scientific diplomacy, ATU hopes to be able to facilitate scientific diplomacy between Iranian universities and their Tajik counterparts and create a framework to embark on academic cooperation with other universities abroad".

It should be noted that, according to the Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan, there are currently 38 universities in this country. Some of these universities were founded since the country's independence, but about 12 enjoy a history of over 50 years.