Iranian President Hassan Rohani has urged the country's universities to admit more foreign students and lecturers.
Rohani called for the establishment of a university teaching in English and suggested Iranian academic life had much to gain from more international exposure.
Rohani made the remarks in a speech marking the start of the academic year broadcast live on state television on October 7.
Rohani dismissed fears often voiced by conservatives that more interaciton with the outside world would encourage espionage.
Though there is an English-language faculty of world studies at the University of Tehran, there is no university in the Islamic Republic at which classes are entirely in English.
Rohani, who received his PhD from a university in Scotland, called on Iran to interact with the world, not just in the realm of politics, but through economics, science and technology.