TEHRAN – The presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the ECO Science Foundation has been extended with the support of member states following consultations, the Iranian Ministry of Science reported on Wednesday. The decision was made during the sixth meeting of the foundation’s board of trustees, hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad. Iran’s Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hussein Simai Sarraf emphasized that the time has come to deepen scientific integration among ECO member states. He noted that the ECO region, with approximately 570 million people, 20 million higher education students, and hundreds of thousands of researchers, represents one of the world’s largest higher education markets.