News - Middle East: Iranian students have once again excelled on the international stage, securing three gold medals and one silver at the 36th International Biology Olympiad (IBO 2025), held in the Philippines.

The gold medalists are Siavash Pezeshpour and Ali Soleimanzadeh Kalahroudi, both from Tehran, and Ali-Akbar Nourollahi from Mashhad, the provincial capital of Khorasan in eastern Iran. Radin Bayani, also from Tehran, earned a silver medal.

With this, the Iranian team placed second overall among 81 countries, out of a total of 298 contestants.

In the previous year, IBO 2024, held in Astana, Kazakhstan, Iran claimed third place, winning two gold and two silver medals.

This year’s competition was hosted by Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines, from July 19 to 27.

The IBO is the world’s most prestigious biology competition for pre-university students under the age of 20, featuring both theoretical and practical exams.

The theoretical exams assess understanding, processing, and application of biological knowledge, while the practical exams evaluate contestants’ methodologies and skills in laboratory settings.

In 2018, Iran hosted the 29th edition of the annual competition, winning two gold medals.

The first IBO was held in 1990 in Czechoslovakia.

From 2015 to 2024, Chinese Taipei ranked first with 34 gold medals, followed closely by mainland China with 33, Singapore with 26, the US with 24, Russia with 22, South Korea with 17, and Iran with 11 gold medals.

Press TV