Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (Iran)
# Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (Iran)

The Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) is the government ministry of science, research and technology in the Islamic Republic of Iran. State-run (non-medical) universities of Iran are under the direct supervision of Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. The ministry was established in 2000 when the ministry of culture and higher education was renamed as the ministry of science, research and technology.

In 2000 the ministry set up the Aerospace Research Institute.

The supervision of higher education institutions and the approval of the study programmes, as well as the accreditation of universities and other higher education institutions are conducted by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. Medical education falls within the remit of the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education. A list of recognised universities and institutes of higher education and private institutions is available on the website of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.

## Ministers since 1979

| No. | Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Head of government |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Ali Shariatmadari | 5 February 1979 | 1 October 1979 | JAMA (political party) | Mehdi Bazargan |
| 2 | Hassan Habibi | 1 October 1979 | 28 May 1980 | Islamic Republican Party | Mehdi Bazargan Council of the Islamic Revolution |
| 3 | Hassan Arefi | 10 September 1980 | 17 August 1981 | Islamic Republican Party | Mohammad-Ali Rajai |
| 4 | Mohammad-Ali Najafi | 17 August 1981 | 14 August 1984 | Islamic Republican Party | Mohammad-Javad Bahonar Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani (acting) Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
| 5 | Iradj Fazel | 20 August 1984 | 28 October 1985 | Independent | Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
| 6 | Mohammad Farhadi | 28 October 1985 | 29 August 1989 | Islamic Republican Party | Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
| 7 | Mostafa Moeen | 29 August 1989 | 16 August 1993 | Islamic Association of Iranian Medical Society | Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani |
| 8 | Mohammad Reza Hashemi Golpayegani | 16 August 1993 | 20 August 1997 | Independent | Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani |
| (7) | Mostafa Moeen | 20 August 1997 | 23 August 2003 | Islamic Iran Participation Front | Mohammad Khatami |
| 9 | Jafar Towfighi | 8 October 2003 | 24 August 2005 | Independent | Mohammad Khatami |
| 10 | Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi | 24 August 2005 | 3 September 2009 | Independent | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad |
| 11 | Kamran Daneshjoo | 3 September 2009 | 17 August 2013 | Independent | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad |
| 12 | Reza Farajidana | 27 October 2013 | 20 August 2014 | Independent | Hassan Rouhani |
| (6) | Mohammad Farhadi | 26 November 2014 | 20 August 2017 | Islamic Association of Iranian Medical Society | Hassan Rouhani |
| 13 | Mansour Gholami | 29 October 2017 | 25 August 2021 | Islamic Association of University Instructors | Hassan Rouhani |
| 14 | Mohammad Ali Zolfigol | 25 August 2021 | Present | Independent | Ebrahim Raisi |
