IRNA � Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mansour Gholami called for cooperation and professor exchange to increase scientific collaborations in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Qusai Soheil on Saturday.

'The collaborations are rooted in the cultural, Islamic and historical interests of the countries,' said Gholami.

Expressing readiness to increase cooperation, Gholami said, 'The cooperation the two countries have is not enough.'

'There are no official joint researches between Iran and Iraq.'

He also said that there are more than 3,300 Iraqi students studying in Iranian universities, fewer than 700 of whom are PhD students adding that Iran is ready to accept more Iraqi students.

He also said that Iran ranks sixteenth in science production, has a good rank in nanotechnology, bioscience, and nuclear industries and some Iranian universities, e.g. Sharif University, have great ranks.