China to Send Scientists to Iran for Rare Earth Exploration

China and Iran are two countries that decided to do more science together.

A Chinese science group called the National Natural Science Foundation of China announced new joint workshops with Iran's science foundation.

China is going to send some of its scientists to Iran to explore rare earth elements.

Rare earths are special materials used to make phones, cars and computers.

China usually keeps its rare earth knowledge secret and rarely shares it, so this is a big deal.

The two countries picked five subjects to work on, and rare earths are one of them.

The other subjects include detecting disease, watching pollution and making buildings safer in earthquakes.

The workshops are part of a science friendship between China and Iran that started nearly ten years ago.

A newspaper called the South China Morning Post reported the announcement.