A Selection of Statements in Meeting with a Group of Young Inventors and Innovators of the Country

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Every meeting of this kind with talented and enthusiastic youth is a day of celebration for me. The reason is that the future of our country and any country depends on its youth. All of you dear ones present here have made efforts, shown determination and competence, and created an honor for your country; I thank each one of you.

The ability and talent that you possess today has existed in every generation of our youth, both men and women; however, human talent requires encouragement, recognition, and the infusion of a spirit of trust and hope to flourish.

Of course, innovation and the entry of youth into scientific fields and their progress have various dimensions. Some of these dimensions we must discuss with officials and stakeholders, and God willing, we will do so, and discussing it here is of no benefit. I constantly remind the country's officials in various sectors at necessary times; I urge them to move in the direction that friends have expressed in their statements, and I try to encourage them to show more activity in this very important task. What pertains to our meeting today is one aspect of this issue; and that is that you young people belong to a nation and a great, historically rooted identity. For many years, this nation and this national identity have been oppressed; we must all keep this in mind constantly. Over time, our nation has truly been wronged. The ability and talent that you possess today has existed in every generation of our youth, both men and women; however, human talent requires encouragement, recognition, and the infusion of a spirit of trust and hope to flourish. The opposite of this policy has been implemented in various periods. The main culprits in this regard have been the governments and policies; there should be no doubt about this. Some understood what they were doing; like most officials during the Pahlavi era, who knowingly took this path; that is, they prevented the emergence of talents. The reason is clear; their firm belief was that Iranians should remain dependent. Their enmity with the talented Iranian generation was not a natural enmity. It was not that they wanted to truly oppose individuals; no, the dominating global policies demanded this from them.

You see who brought the Pahlavi government to power? Who made Reza Khan the ruler of this country? This is no longer a vague point in history. Today everyone knows that the British brought Reza Khan to power in this country; just as when they felt that Reza Khan was no longer useful to them, they dismissed him and brought Mohammad Reza to power. This is part of the clear sections of our contemporary history. Those who brought them to power were the same ones who tried to keep them dependent on themselves through various policies. When the Mossadegh movement occurred in this country - which was a national movement - the place where the greatest sense of danger was felt was not the government and monarchy; the British felt the greatest sense of danger. Then, when the British saw they could not handle the situation, they brought the Americans into the picture. They came in a sense and took the scene from the British and became the rulers. One person stood up and came here with a suitcase full of dollars and, by creating an artificial crisis, overthrew the national government, and the regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi dominated the country. This is their policy; this is clear and the documents and manuscripts of it are now available to everyone.

Unfortunately, you young people have less opportunity to refer to these things; however, you need to know them. Today, the name of the person who brought Reza Khan to power in Iran is known; the name of the person who brought Mohammad Reza to power is known; the name of the person who came to Iran and brought money is known; the plan that was designed in America and the operations room that was formed in Europe is known; these are clear and specific plans that their foreign ministries have published, and today they are at our disposal.

For a nation, the great poison is dependency; and the antidote to this poison is self-awareness, intellectual independence, scientific independence, standing on one’s own feet, managing oneself, and not seeing oneself as dependent on others.

The global greedy and interventionist policies suffer from the independence and self-belief of the Iranian nation. For a nation, the great poison is dependency; and the antidote to this poison is self-awareness, intellectual independence, scientific independence, standing on one’s own feet, managing oneself, and not seeing oneself as dependent on others. Therefore, they must keep this antidote out of reach of this nation; this is natural.

Today, when we say that the policy of the Pahlavi regime was to prevent the talents of this nation from growing, this is not a slogan; this is a statement based on logic and reasoning. This has been the case for many years. Of course, before them, the Qajars also played the same role; however, unknowingly, out of ignorance and lack of familiarity with science; occasionally, some figures among them were dependent. This is our past era. Throughout this period, the Iranian nation has been oppressed.

The Islamic Revolution came and dismantled this system, but this is not enough. The obstacles have been removed; however, removing the obstacles is not a sufficient condition for realizing those great aspirations. Realizing those great aspirations requires several things; of course, one is the support of governmental and state institutions and officials. This very point that friends have also shared is undoubtedly a necessary condition; it is the same part that I mentioned we are pursuing and will discuss with the officials, that they must follow it up.

... You see how much the situation you are in has changed from ten years ago to now. Ten years ago, we did not have these phenomena; we did not have these Olympiad achievements; we did not have these innovations in academic and student environments; but today we do. Of course, this trend is progressing geometrically; it is generating and producing itself. This trend, God willing, will continue to increase, and certainly the day will come when, God willing, you young people of today will become middle-aged men and hold the reins of work in this country, and, God willing, the work will be much easier and smoother. We may not be there that day, but you are preparing for a great and significant task.

We must pursue the day when if a scientist in the world wants to understand a scientific theory, recognize it, solve it, and become familiar with an invention, he must learn Persian.

Let me say this in parentheses; last week, I told a group of young people who had come here that we must pursue the day when if a scientist in the world wants to understand a scientific theory, recognize it, solve it, and become familiar with an invention, he must learn Persian.

Strengthen the spirit of inquiry, the spirit of hope, the spirit of self-reliance, and the belief that "we can" among your generation.

Another aspect - which is also very important - pertains to you, the young generation. Strengthen the spirit of inquiry, the spirit of hope, the spirit of self-reliance, and the belief that "we can" among your generation. Among Arabs, it is said, "The strongest evidence of the possibility of something is its occurrence"; the strongest and most decisive evidence that something is possible is that it happens. The highest evidence that the Iranian youth can innovate in technology and science and break the boundaries of knowledge and move forward - a topic that I have repeatedly mentioned for several years - is that it is happening.

Of course, we do not want to exaggerate about what has happened and understand and introduce it more than it is; however, these advancements exist and are happening now. The very work that is being done in the Khorasani festivals, the very work that is being done in our universities, the very work that is being done in the Olympiads, is the strongest evidence that this work is possible. Establish this belief in possibility firmly in your minds. In the practical scene of the country, there are many examples of this.

Of course, most people are unaware of these achievements. I insist that these advancements reach the ears of the people. I tell the officials to inform the people about the work being done. There was a day when we could not build even one-hundredth of what we are doing today. That day is not far away; it was just twenty-five years ago. Before the revolution, we had no hope of being able to build a power plant; to build a dam; to even understand complex technologies, let alone build them; but today all of these exist.

Today we have made very significant advancements in very important sectors. These are the movement of the revolution and the spirit of the revolution; it is the self-belief that the revolution has given; it is the open space for talents that the revolution has granted us and has given us the opportunity to think freely and hope. Strengthen this in yourselves, in your generation, and in your groups.

An Iranian can break the boundaries of knowledge - which today is very advanced and has a very high horizon - and move forward and create a new frontier; however, we do not expect to accomplish this in, for example, five or ten years.

To be negative and say "it cannot be done, they will not allow it, it is of no use" is the deadly poison of this movement. One day they came and created this poison and injected it into the cultural water of this nation. One day they explicitly said, "We cannot." In my youth, this statement was among the common sayings that an Iranian could not even make a simple clay pot! You may not know what a clay pot is. A clay pot is a simple vessel; that too a clay one. This was the view of politicians and academic leaders of that day. Many of the politicians of that day were academic figures; their names are also known; they said Iranians cannot! No, Iranians can. Iranians can break the boundaries of knowledge - which today is very advanced and has a very high horizon - and move forward and create a new frontier; however, we do not expect to accomplish this in, for example, five or ten years.

In this very room, I told a group of young people like you to strive from now on so that fifty years later this country can present the latest technologies and scientific theories in all sectors to humanity. Move with this intention. If you want to reach that point fifty years from now, the work you are doing now is not much; it is steps that must definitely be taken and accelerated.

Rely on yourselves and want to accomplish the work. Your experience is also a good experience; you have made efforts and entered the fields of work; and, of course, institutions have also, thanks be to God, helped. I insist that our youth, if they manage to achieve something, should not be satisfied with it and should not think that they have reached a point; no, this is just the beginning; this is a message to you that you can.

You who are sitting here can one day present the loudest and most important inventions in the world to humanity and advance your nation. A nation cannot advance its work only with noise and commotion. Of course, noise and commotion are also necessary, but it must have depth and substance; its depth and substance are nothing more than two things; one is faith, the other is knowledge; these two must be present. Knowledge without faith does not advance the work - it creates many side problems - and faith without knowledge is the same.

Today, fortunately, the atmosphere of the country is a safe one; there was a time when it was not like this. If you wanted to turn on the light in your workshop, if it was half an hour past sunset, they would say you must turn it off so that the enemy bombers do not come to bomb. They would come and bomb cities like Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, and Isfahan; that is, the enemy was dominant over our skies. Our own youth broke that narrow space of captivity; both in the field of science and in the field of jihad.

I have said many times; at a time when foreign countries would not sell us barbed wire and RPGs, youths like you managed to produce one of the most advanced missiles - which they would not sell to us - in this country, which was also used. Our youth in the IRGC and the army and other sectors - especially in the IRGC - have done very great works and have been present in the scenes of jihad and, thanks be to God, have been able to restore security to this country. Therefore, the environment is a safe one; you can do intellectual and scientific work in this environment.

Trust in God, seek help from God, strengthen religious faith in your hearts - for these successes are very important; both for your personal success and for national success - and do not let factors of disbelief gnaw at faith like a worm and destroy it.

Do not neglect in the pursuit of knowledge and in increasing your scientific knowledge and capabilities. Do not be satisfied with what you have done and consider it the first step. You are like a mountaineer who must go and reach the summit. You are now moving in the first twists and turns of the path, where sometimes one sweats. Do not be satisfied with the initial successes of the path; look to see where the summit is. You must work hard and endure difficulties to reach the summit.

Know that today our achievements are the result of the struggles, sacrifices, faith, and selflessness of youths like you and at your ages. Many of our martyrs were among the outstanding university and high school students; but they went and sacrificed their lives. Today the nation is deprived of their scientific knowledge and talent; however, the achievement they gave to this nation is a hundred times more valuable than the scientific talent they would have had if they had lived and utilized it. They created this atmosphere, this hope, and these capabilities.

We hope that God grants you all success and supports you. The officials, God willing, will also help with these works. We hope that one day you will, God willing, appear with greater successes in the scientific arena of the country and be able to advance your country even more.