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29 Jul 2026, 13:42

No Iranian University is Present in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2026

In the 2026 ranking of the impact and sustainability of universities worldwide, no Iranian university is listed; this is while 34 Iranian universities were present in the 2025 list.

This year, Times has changed the way universities can participate in this ranking, making it conditional on their membership in the sustainability network and the provision of information by the institutions themselves.

Some Iranian media have covered this development as "the removal of Iran"; a term that implies a targeted or punitive action, while it is still unclear whether the absence of Iranian universities is due to a decision by Times or their non-participation in the new ranking mechanism.

Times rankings are among the most recognized and consulted university evaluation systems in the world, and their results can affect international credibility, student recruitment, and scientific collaborations of universities.
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For the first time since the launch of the "Impact Universities" ranking by Times Higher Education, no Iranian university is listed in the 2026 version of this list. This event, alongside the continuous decline in the rankings of Iranian universities in other reputable global ranking systems, has once again brought the state of higher education in the country under scrutiny.

According to the published results, in the 2026 Times ranking, 1,646 universities from 116 countries have been evaluated based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, unlike previous years, Iran's name has been completely removed from this list, and Times has not yet provided an explanation for this matter.

The removal of Iran from this ranking occurs while the country's universities have always been present in the Times list since its inception in 2019. Only in 2025, 34 Iranian universities were evaluated in this ranking, and some of them were among the top universities in the world in several sustainable development indicators, including "Health and Well-being," "Quality Education," "Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure," and "Gender Equality."

At the same time, the latest QS global ranking results also indicate a continued downward trend for Iranian universities. The QS ranking, considered one of the most reputable higher education evaluation systems in the world, assesses universities based on indicators such as academic reputation, research quality, citation rates, student-to-faculty ratio, international collaborations, and graduate employability.

In this evaluation, the University of Tehran has fallen 45 places, dropping from rank 322 to 367 globally. Tabriz University has dropped 108 ranks, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad about 125 ranks, and universities in Shiraz, Isfahan, and Azad University have also experienced significant declines, with Azad University falling out of the top 1,400 universities in the world.

In contrast, countries in the region have shown a reverse trend. Turkey has 25 universities in the QS ranking, with Istanbul Technical University reaching rank 279 globally. The United Arab Emirates also has three universities among the top 300 universities in the world.

Hosseini Simayi Sarraf, the Minister of Science, has identified reduced investment in research, weak international scientific collaborations, lack of educational and research infrastructure, and limited study opportunities as factors contributing to the decline in the rankings of Iranian universities.

Shahin Akhoundzadeh, Deputy for Research at the Ministry of Health, has also stated that extensive internet restrictions and disruptions in 2026 have held Iranian researchers back from scientific activities for about one-third of the year; a situation that, according to him, could lead to a reduction of about 10,000 scientific papers and further decline in Iran's scientific standing.

Higher education experts also say that the decrease in connections between Iranian universities and global scientific centers, restrictions on attracting foreign faculty and students, reduced research budgets, weak educational infrastructure, and limited access to international scientific resources are among the most important factors affecting the competitiveness of Iranian universities in global rankings.

The Times Impact Rankings have been published since 2019 with the aim of evaluating universities' performance in achieving the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and is the only global ranking system that measures the role of universities in areas such as education, health, gender equality, innovation, environment, justice, and sustainable development.
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