There's a surprisingly large number of Iranians doing great work in Canadian universities. I'm not particularly well-versed in why, but it seems that smart people have both means and motive to emigrate.
There's a perception gap due to the western world's treatment of Iran. Maybe we shouldn't have overthrown their government and installed a dictator in the 1950s.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2014/02/02/why_does_iran_ha...