Iran loses 300,000 university graduates to better prospects abroad

Ehsan Ghazizadeh, member of the Iranian parliament, reported on Tuesday a massive exodus of university-educated people from Iran. Over the past three years, some 4,000 doctors and about 300,000 academics with masters or PhD degrees have left Iran.

Hossein-Ali Shahriyari, chairman of the parliamentary health commission, recently wrote a letter to Ali Khamenei, head of the Islamic Republic, expressing his concern about the increasing exodus of doctors.

The Iranian Ministry of Health, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Council of Doctors of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Parliamentary Health Commission have also warned President Ebrahim Raisi in a letter of the negative consequences of doctors, reports Mehr News Agency.

Last Wednesday, Khamenei also reacted to the massive emigration of academics. In a speech, he said that encouraging talented young people to emigrate is "treason".

The statement met with outrage on social media. Most blamed Khamenei's foreign policy and the country's nuclear programme, which has led to sanctions, economic misery and a lack of prospects, for the flight of talent. Others pointed to the lifestyle demanded by the Islamic regime, which is driving those who can to leave Iran.

An increasing number of reports have been published in recent years about Iran's brain drain and the country's "intellectual haemorrhage". In March, the Iranian Ministry of Health reported that nine hundred university lecturers had left the country in 2020 alone.    (Iran Journal)