FNA - Iranian scientists could stand atop the Middle-Eastern states in the development and advancement of nanoscience and nanotechnology, a reputable international magazine reported, adding that the country ranks 16th in the world.

Scimago Institutions Rankings, a science evaluation source to assess worldwide universities and research-focused institutions, has released the data of the Middle-Eastern countries' ranking in 2017.

Based on the report, Iran ranks first in the Middle-East region in nanoscience and nanotechnology with 5,668 documents, 5,602 citable documents and 71,320 citations in international papers.

The report added that Iran has outpaced Saudi Arabia, Israel (Occupied Palestine), Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Palestine, Yemen and Syria in nanotechnology in the Middle-East in 2017.

Also, the report said that Iran ranks 16th in the world in nanoscience and nanotechnology with the same number of documents, citable documents and citations in international papers.

Iranian Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari announced early in December that Iran stood atop the nations of the region in the production of science and technology.

"Now, Iran ranks first in the region in science and technology," Sattari said, addressing a forum on stem cells in Tehran.

Also, in June, Sattari underlined that Iran's international ranking in science production had risen from 34th to 16th.

"Iran ranks first in West Asia in terms of science output with the number of its college students rising to 4.8 million from 2.4 million," Sattari said, addressing the second Iran-Europe Cooperation Conference in Brussels, Belgium.

He reiterated that Iran had made great progress in the fields of biotechnology, renewable energy, nanotechnology and stem cells.