Iranian Deputy Health Minister Reza Malekzadeh hailed Iranian scientists and researchers for their efforts in boosting the country's scientific status in the world.
"One third of science production in the Middle East and North Africa takes place in Iran," Malekzadeh said on Thursday.
He reiterated that Iran ranked 17th in the world in terms of number of ISI articles in 2013 and ranked 24th in terms of the number of scientific citations in the same year.
In September, Deputy Health Minister Shahin Akhundzadeh announced that Iran ranked 17th in the production of medical sciences among the world countries in 2013.
The official said that forty percent of the country’s scientific productions is among medical productions.
In January 2013, member of the Iranian Parliament's Education and Research Commission Qassem Ahmadi described Iran's advancements in medical sciences as "remarkable".
"The Islamic Iran stands the second in the production of (medical) sciences in the region and ranks 19th in the world (in 2012), and in this growing environment we should move to bolster our health tourism sector," Ahmadi stated.