Some 220,000 leading academics and industrialists have left Iran for Western countries over the past year, the Iran Student News Agency (ISNA) said Tuesday.
The agency quoted Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mostafa Moin as saying that they were unlikely to return.
He criticized the lack of support and transparent policies for developing research and technology, saying that his ministry's budget in hard currency was just US$40 million, said the Tehran Times.
"If academics had a proper place in our society, we would not have suffered such tragedies," he said, referring to violent attacks by conservatives on students in July 1999 and August 2000.
In the latest reaction to the situation, some 109 university professors signed a letter to President Mohammad Khatami warning that the arrest of 20 dissidents, mostly university professors, could speed up the brain drain.
"We are afraid that the detention may accelerate the trend of brain drain in Iran and deprive our developing society of vital assets," they warned.
The Iranian population, estimated at 62 million, is one of the world's youngest, with 35 million people under the age of 20 – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
