The head of the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran has said the country’s ranking among the 168 member countries of the International Standard Organization (ISO) has improved from 26th to 20th place.

“Based on the latest reports of international organizations, Iran’s national standards organization has reached the 20th place in the global standardization list for the second year in a row despite all the negative impacts of the U.S. sanctions,” Mehdi Eslam-Panah told IRIB.

According to the official, Japan, China, South Korea, and India occupy the first to fourth ranks among Asian countries, and Iran is ranked fifth.

He further noted that Iran is West Asia’s top country in terms of standardization, according to the ISO.