Iran and Strategic Multilateralism Based on Science Diplomacy: A Comparative Study of the Presence of Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia in International Science and Technology Organizations

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the Islamic countries of Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia exploit international organizations in the field of science and technology and the neglected capacities and opportunities of Iran in this field. In this regard, first, the most important international organizations in the field of science and technology were identified in the regional and global dimensions and the presence and exploitation of these countries were compared with Iran. In this article, interviews and analysis of the experts’ opinions in the field of science and technology show that although Iran's presence in the international multilateral processes in this field is acceptable in terms of quantity, it is not desirable in terms of quality. The most important reason for this is the lack of skilled manpower in the field of international science and technology cooperation and the low level of specialized knowledge of activists in this field. Iran's membership in international institutions is often decentralized, and Iranian representatives are unaware of each other's presence and cannot make use of the most of existing experiences and capacities. The inconsistency and lack of the representatives’ alignment in these organizations is very serious. among the main challenges of the presence of representatives in international institutions can be mentioned these cases: the interaction with key responsible organizations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the lack of seriousness of other organizations in their interactions, the lack of transparency in domestic law, and the lack of oversight of international law and law.