The executive deputy of the secretariat for the SCSRT (Supreme Council of Science, Research and Technology) announced that according to the law for the establishment of special science and technology zones (SSTZ), the SCSRT is the only authority to receive any such requests before it is sent to the cabinet for the final ratification.

Mostafa Kazemi, the executive deputy of the secretariat for the SCSRT said in an interview with the website of the secretariat, that many of the local provincial authorities are sending requests to establish new SSTZs in their region. However, according to the regulations on the establishment of SSTZs, Isfahan is chosen as the pilot region to establish the first SSTZ and new zones will be permitted only after comprehensive comparative studies on the performance and achievements of the pilot zone are conducted. He also pointed out that appropriate performance indices are being devised in the secretaries in order to measure and compare the performance of special science and technology zones.