IRNA news agency on Tuesday reported that Iran is planning to accept more female students from Afghanistan after Taliban ban on women’s education in the country.

IRNA reported that Iran has increased Tehran University’s budget for scholarships to Afghan students fivefold.

An official from Tehran University said this will enable Iran to support more Afghan students, especially women this year.

Currently, a total of 470 Afghan students, nearly a quarter of them women are studying at Tehran University.

More than half of these students have scholarships, the official added.

Following the Taliban’s closure of universities for Afghan female students, Iran announced that it is ready to provide special facilities for female Afghan students.

Women and girls are largely excluded from public life in Afghanistan.

Iran is also a Muslim country whose Islamic legislation is repeatedly criticised. Women in particular face systematic disadvantages in the Islamic Republic.

Iran has also come under international criticism for its brutal crackdown on nationwide protests, with women leading the unrest.

The Islamic Republic has a modern education and higher education system, and the majority of enrolled students in Iran are women.

(dpa/NAN)