Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

Cooperation relations are managed in the context of the General Arrangement of 14 September 1993 and the Cultural Arrangement of 31 January 1999. Four priorities have been established to date:

 Promotion of inter-university partnerships and advanced French training in compliance with the rules of vigilance. Actions supporting university cooperation conducted by the French Embassy in Iran (welcoming and guiding students, improving language skills, setting up a network for former scholarship recipients) have been grouped together in a University Information and Exchange Centre.

 Development of French instruction in Iran’s secondary and higher education. Since the beginning of the 2003 academic year, several public secondary schools in Iran have started French classes.

 Promotion of scientific partnerships (environment, water, town planning, human and social sciences, and veterinary medicine) in compliance with the rules of vigilance, with Iranian co-financing, where relevant. An integrated action programme (called Hubert Curien “Gundishapur”) was reached in July 2004.

 Intensification of cultural dialogue, in both directions. The French Embassy in Iran conducts volunteer translation and publication actions and organizes cultural and scientific events. The French Research Institute on Iran (IFRI) is the only foreign research centre authorized to take part in disseminating information about ancient and contemporary Persian and Iranian culture.

Updated on 26.12.08

Archaeology

Drawing on the expertise of the Commission consultative des recherches archéologiques à l’étranger (Consultative Commission on Archaeological Research Abroad), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGCID) is subsidizing nearly 160 archaeological missions (from palaeontology to the medieval period) in 65 countries. Among others:

 Nishapur: the fortified city (Qohandez and Shahrestan)
 Shiraz: Land use and movement in the Achaemenid Empire

^{Updated on 09/09/08}