Dynamics of International Scientific Cooperation under Sanctions

Iran’s record in maintaining and expanding international scientific relations under an ongoing sanctions regime – encompassing restrictive measures against both its national and international scientific activities – is of significant interest to the Russian Federation. However, the existing literature does not give a comprehensive account of the challenges and achievements related to g Iran’s integration into the international scientific community, especially in light of the fluctuating waves of anti-Iranian sanctions from 2010 to 2024. These sanctions cycles have been marked by periods of both escalation and de-escalation. The article examines the negative impact of sanctions on Iranian science while assessing Iran’s proactive measures to mitigate these effects, including domestic initiatives and efforts to bolster the potential of science diplomacy. Special attention is given to the typological characteristics of sanctions imposed on Iran, which had a negative impact on the scientific and technological potential and international cooperation with its participation. Consequently, the paper identifies key phases in the internationalization of Iranian science under sanctions. Factors contributing to Iran’s success in international cooperation include the lack of strong cohesion within the sanctions coalition, the absence of avalanching scientific sanctions and of sharp institutional ruptures with Western countries, the adoption of traditional scientific diplomacy, and Iran’s strategic pivot towards nations that view it as a promising scientific hub. The article concluded that the peculiarity of the Iranian scientific diplomacy model is that the greatest efforts to form institutional ties in the field of ISTC are carried out at the intergovernmental level with a rather modest role of academic sector entities (universities, associations and think tanks). Therefore, foreign participants in ISTC interested in partnership with Iran need to understand this specificity, as well as develop and implement appropriate interaction algorithms.

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