Iran Intends to Inaugurate Fifth University in Syria

 Iranian and Afghan boys study in a classroom at the Be'sat school in Kerman, Iran, October 23, 2016. (REUTERS/Gabriela Baczynska)
Iranian and Afghan boys study in a classroom at the Be'sat school in Kerman, Iran, October 23, 2016. (REUTERS/Gabriela Baczynska)
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Iran Intends to Inaugurate Fifth University in Syria

 Iranian and Afghan boys study in a classroom at the Be'sat school in Kerman, Iran, October 23, 2016. (REUTERS/Gabriela Baczynska)
Iranian and Afghan boys study in a classroom at the Be'sat school in Kerman, Iran, October 23, 2016. (REUTERS/Gabriela Baczynska)

Iran is planning to inaugurate the fifth Iranian university in Syria, revealed Mansour Gholami, Iran’s science, research and technology minister.

“The planned establishment of the Tarbiat Modares University in Syria aims to provide education for Syrian students in their own country,” Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted Gholami as saying.

The university will provide an opportunity for Syrian students to complete their graduate and post-graduate studies, according to Gholami. "We’re hoping to receive a larger number of students," the minister said.

Iran exerts restless efforts to spread the Iranian ideology in Syria through schools and Persian language teaching centers. The past years have witnessed the opening of several schools in Damascus, Lattakia, Deir Ezzor, and Boukamal.

Iran has allocated monthly salaries for students of its Islamic schools, amounting to SYP10,000 (USD20) – this is considered a high salary for poor Syrian children. Iran’s endeavors to infiltrate inside the Syrian community where it has military dominance have expanded towards regions considered anti-regime such as Hama.

Unprecedentedly, the University of Hama has announced signing three agreements of scientific cooperation with three Iranian universities (Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Amirkabir University of Technology and Al-Zahra College for Women.)



Russia Says its Troops Reach Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Region

FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo
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Russia Says its Troops Reach Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Region

FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russian forces reached Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region and continued their advance there.

It also said that Russian troops captured the village of Zoria in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Moscow, which has the initiative on the battlefield, has repeatedly refused calls by Ukraine, Europe and US President Donald Trump for a full and unconditional ceasefire.

At talks in Istanbul last week it demanded Kyiv pull troops back from the frontline, agree to end all Western arms support and give up on its ambitions to join the NATO military alliance.

Dnipropetrovsk is not among the five Ukrainian regions over which Russia has asserted a formal territorial claim.

It is an important mining and industrial hub for Ukraine and deeper Russian advances into the region could have a serious knock-on effect for Kyiv's struggling military and economy.

Dnipropetrovosk was estimated to have a population of around three million people before Russia launched its offensive. Around one million people lived in the regional capital, Dnipro.