TEHRAN, IRAN - IRANIAN computer specialist Sina Rahati left his home country for Kuala Lumpur three years ago and says he misses neither Tehran's polluted streets nor the bureaucracy needed to set up a new business.

The one thing Mr Rahati really does miss, though, is his favourite breakfast of kaleh pacheh - a fatty traditional Iranian dish made from sheep's head and trotters that most outsiders find utterly inedible.

He is one of a number of Iranians who are flocking to Malaysia, attracted by a fellow Islamic country with a relatively low cost of living, instead of pursuing their dreams in traditional exile hubs such as Canada or Sweden.

Wherever they go, the flight of educated Iranians in search of work and study is part of an ongoing brain drain which is depriving the country of some of its most talented young people.

Mr Rahati, 26, who launched an e-commerce company in Tehran, moved to Malaysia after becoming frustrated with 'stressful relations with government organisations that do not welcome a modern business,' he said.

'I travelled to a few countries and found Malaysia to be a nice and affordable place to live and study,' said Mr Rahati, who is in Kuala Lumpur to pursue a master's degree.

Iran has a large youth population, and has taken a series of measures, such as increasing the number of places in domestic universities, in a bid to reduce the emigration trend.

However unofficial reports indicate that several hundred thousand undergraduates and graduates are leaving the country each year.

The upward direction of this trend has not changed, but the destinations have.

Receiving souvenirs from cousins studying in Ontario or Gothenburg was common in the 1980s and 1990s, but many Iranian families are now receiving gifts from Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia's affordability and high standard of living have seen Iranians - the middle-class in particular - turn their backs on the West and head East instead.

'As a student you get a wide range of free or cheap services in Malaysia at a relatively excellent level for Asia,' said Mr Pooria Asteraky, whose firm helps Iranians wanting to study in Malaysia.

Soaring demand on his introductory iranmalaysia.com website has created a busy office in northern Tehran providing a full package of services for those keen to study in Malaysia.

'In 2003 there were maybe 400 Iranians in Malaysia, but today I suppose they would be between 15,000 and 20,000, said Mr Asteraky, who now lives in Malaysia.

Malaysians do not look at you as an alien

Officials put the number of Iranian students in Malaysia at between 3,000 and 4,000 today, saying the figure was only 900 in 2006.

'After the 9/11 attacks, people from the Middle East feel more secure in Islamic countries,' said Mr Asteraky.

'They (Malaysians) do not look at you as an alien and they would even give you some privileges because you are a foreigner,' he said.

Visa controls at Western airports can be unnerving for Iranians these days, whether they involve fingerprinting or intense questioning, but Iranians visiting loved ones in Malaysia for fewer than 15 days do not need a visa.

'Easy visa, high educational standards, freedom, low cost of living and great transportation facilities' are among Malaysia's attractions for Iranian students, said Adnan Abas, counsellor at the Malaysian embassy in Tehran.

'Today on the other side of the world there is Islamophobia,' Mr Abas said, adding that in contrast, 'the number of visas we issue is increasing'.

The extremely fierce competition for places at Iran's best universities is also a motivating factor.

'Admission to universities has become tougher because of a lack of places and also the political-moral qualification tests you take before they let you in,' said Ms Maryam, 27, a journalist whose paper was closed by the authorities.

'Even though it will not be cheaper than in Iran, I won't have to work in Malaysia to pay for my studies, as I do in Tehran. And I'll also get a degree that's valid internationally,' she said.

'There will be more time for study and less for stress,' Ms Maryam added.

As Iran's nuclear standoff with the West escalates, Tehran has sought closer economic ties with Asia in a bid to bypass Western sanctions over its controversial atomic activities.

One such ban applies to money transfers, and the standoff means that Iranians studying in Malaysia are also affected as families now have to pay extra fees to send even small amounts to their children.

'These sanctions are international and have made transfer commissions so high. And since 2007 Iran has gone under high risk countries for an anti-money laundering act in Malaysia,' Mr Asteraky said.

Ms Maryam she had to pay US$100 (S$134) to an Iranian bank so she could send US$90 to file three applications for universities in Malaysia.

'I'm taking all my money with me because of the transfer problem,' she said as she prepared to leave Tehran for Kuala Lumpur to study for a master's degree in journalism. -- AFP