Turkey and Iran, two neighbors with a deep-seated history occasionally marked by disagreements, are set to increase their cooperation in the field of education. Among the projects under consideration is the establishment of a joint Turkish-Iranian university.

A delegation headed by Professor Yekta Saraç, the head of the Institute of Higher Learning (YÖK), Turkey's education authority overseeing universities, was in Tehran yesterday for a two-day visit with Iranian officials. The visit is touted as the highest-level of contact on higher education between the two countries and will see the signing of a memorandum of cooperation.

The delegation first met Professor Muhammad Farhadi, the Iranian Science, Research and Technology minister, and the presidents of several Iranian universities.

Speaking at the meeting, Saraç said education was one of the issues in which the two countries had the fewest amount of problems in their relations and they needed to improve their cooperation on education. Farhadi said a joint research center and a joint university would be beneficial for cooperation. Turkish and Iranian officials had reached an agreement to set up a joint university in 2013, although the agreement for the university, planned to be built in the eastern Turkish city of Van near the Iranian border, has not been implemented yet.