"In the past 1.5 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has ascended three steps and is now standing among the 15 pioneering science production nations in the world," Sattari said.

Noting that Iran now ranks 7th in advanced nanotechnology, he said, "We have plans to rank 5th in this field."

Sattari also announced that 1,500 knowledge-based companies are now active in different Iranian provinces.

Also in December, a report dubbed Science-Innovation Atlas of Islamic States and sponsored by Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), showed Iran stands first among the Islamic states in terms of registering inventions.

Based on the report presented in the 7th meeting of Islamic ministers of educations in Morocco, Iran was ranked first among the 57 Islamic countries in terms of science and research.

50 percent of the Islamic countries studies and papers are produced by Iran and Turkey.

The report said that Tunisia, Malaysia, Turkey and Iran have provided most of their research and development expenses from Gross Domestic Production (GDP) revenues.

Tunisia, Jordan, Turkey and Iran are the four Islamic countries which have the highest number of researchers per 100,000 people.

By Nanotechnology Now