Hawzah News Agency (Qom, Iran) – In a Press conference held to discuss the procedures of Islamic seminaries admission for the new academic year, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, head of the Iranian Islamic Seminaries asserted, "The Islamic seminaries play an influential role in Iran, the Middle East as well as in the other parts of world; he added, "The seminaries produce their fair share of scientific articles in Iran."

The Shia cleric went on, "Islamic seminaries have always been considered as a social organization that moves side by side people; Seminaries remain faithful to their original traditions and values, yet they are progressing to comply with the needs of modern day societies and continue on their evolutionary path toward development."

Ayatollah Arafi added, "As of today, there are almost 600 seminary schools as well as 50 specialized Islamic centers which are supervised by the Iranian seminaries; these centers are actively involved in the fields of education and research; during the next year's admission of Islamic seminaries, as many as 15000 new students can be accepted to these educational Islamic centers."

Member of the Supreme Council of Iranian Seminaries further said," The applicants are going to be evaluated based on their intelligence, academic aptitude and personal character which are necessary traits in order to carry out their future tasks as a cleric successfully. "

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