Tajikistan Halts Student Dispatch to Iran

The Minister of Education and Science of Tajikistan states that due to security issues and Iran's failure to keep its 'promises', Tajikistan will no longer send students to the country. This news comes after President Emomali Rahmon's recent visit to Saudi Arabia. Tajikistan had also recently protested the presence of the leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party at a conference in Tehran. Nuriddin Saidov, the Minister of Education and Science of Tajikistan, said on Monday, January 21, that Tajikistan 'does not raise its youth to have these sturdy trees cut down with tendencies towards extremist groups.' The news agency Mizan quoted Saidov, who stated that Tajikistan is refraining from sending students to Iran and Ukraine due to security concerns, as the country does not want to jeopardize the safety of its citizens. The Minister also added that Iran is acting 'contrary to its promises' regarding students wishing to study in the country. According to the report, Saidov mentioned that last year, Iran accepted 91 candidates for specific fields, but only 43 managed to go to Tehran. The Minister's statements come just days after President Emomali Rahmon's visit to Saudi Arabia. Rahmon's trip to Riyadh on January 3 occurred a day after relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia soured due to the execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric critical of the Saudi government. A few days prior, the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian ambassador in Dushanbe to protest the presence of the leader of the now-banned Islamic Renaissance Party at a conference in Tehran, calling it an 'unacceptable' act. News and photos related to this conference circulated in media and social networks, showing Muhyiddin Kabiri, the leader of this party, at the 'International Conference on Islamic Unity' in Tehran on January 6, as well as his meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei on the sidelines of the conference. The website of Ayatollah Khamenei published a photo of this meeting.