Tehran – Iran has made great strides in nanotechnology over a year (August 2024 – August 2025), with more than 100% increase in nanotechnology products exports, indexing 10,860 articles on the Web of Science (WOS), ranking 6th in the publication of nanotech articles.
Iran’s activities in nanotechnology began in 2001. Two years later, the headquarters of Nanotechnology was established to promote knowledge in this field. The first national strategic plan, titled “Future Strategic Document,” was developed in 2005 and aims to place Iran in the top 15 countries on the ground, focusing on the continuous improvement of the country’s position to generate wealth and improve the quality of life for its people.
The organization was subsequently renamed “Nano and Microtechnology Headquarters” to follow up missions and tasks in both areas.
Over the past year, from August 22, 2024 to August 23, 2025, important measures have been taken to improve existing industries and expand and manage sustainable export and nanoproduct markets at national, regional and global levels.
Iranian nanotechnology products from various industries are divided into 13 major categories, including civil engineering and construction. Optics, electronics, and photonics. Petroleum and petrochemists. Medicines, health, and happiness. Home appliances; Power and energy; Raw materials; Chemicals; Textiles and clothing; Equipment; Automotive industry and transportation. Industrial machinery; data released by the Vice President of Science and Technology shows agriculture, animal care and water.
According to data released by the National Headquarters for the development of nanotechnology, approximately 89.6% of Iran’s nanotechnology products are exported to Asian countries.
Europe, Africa, America and Australia are the next destinations, with 6.8%, 2.5% and 1% of imports, respectively.
Data related to Iranian calendar year 1402 (March 2023) also indicates that neighboring countries are major export destinations for Iranian nanotechnology products.
Iraq, Türkiye and Afghanistan are the top three importers, holding 23.1%, 6.9% and 6.5% of imports.
Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Russia, China and India rank below.
The Journal Citation Report (JCR) Impact Factor 2024 cited 161 Iranian journals, giving them five names in the most cited world in the nanotechnology sector.
The Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry (JNSC) is a member of Islamic AZAD University with an impact coefficient of 7.9. It is featured in the top 25% of JCR journals published by Clarivate Analytics in three categories, including Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and ranks 34 among the 147 top journals. Chemistry, interdisciplinary, ranking 41 among 239 journals. Interdisciplinary Material Science, ranked 88 among the top journals of 460.
So far, 10 of the 12 specialized nanotechnology journals in the country have been indexed in international Scopus databases, five of which have received an impact factor.
Iran is placed in the top 10 countries in the publication of nanotechnology articles, ranking 12th in the global nano-final index H index, as it published a total of 4,615 articles in the top 25% of the journals (first magazine).
Since 2011, the country has been suffering a downward trend with obtaining patents for nanotechnology, but has been placed in the top 30 countries in nanotechnology patented technology, ranked 27th in 2024.
It is noteworthy that the proportion of granted patents has increased from 19% in 2023 to 25% in 2024. Similarly, the number of published and granted patents increased slightly from 17% in 2023 to 19% in 2024.
By the end of 2024, Iran had announced 364 nanotechnology patents at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). 25% of Iran’s USPTO registered patents fall under the Nanotechnology category.
mt/mg