Statements at the Meeting with Participants of the Seventh National Conference of Young Elites

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

Well, as usual, your meeting, dear youth, is very sweet, very inspiring, and often serves as a basis for action and implementation in policies and planning. The things that friends mentioned in their speeches were mostly profound and noteworthy; I did not take notes today because I intended to take the writings one by one. God willing, in our office - friends will hear from me now, I say this right now - they should collect the proposals, categorize them; some are necessary for us to pay attention to, and God willing, they will be considered, while others should be reminded to various institutions, or communicated, or proposed. Some points were also mentioned by friends that require clarification, meaning that a point was not clear to me. For instance, one of the friends mentioned that a knowledge map should be prepared; I did not understand whether something other than the comprehensive scientific map - which has been worked on for a long time and its document has been prepared and communicated - is intended? If this is the case, then they should explain. Friends, there may be cases that need clarification, which may now be questioned by our office and they will receive answers.

You dear elites, whether you who are present here or the countless elites who, thanks be to God, are throughout the country and for any reason are not present in this session, in every field you study, research, and work - whether in humanities, technical sciences, basic sciences, medical sciences, and health-related sciences, and any other section you are engaged in - you are all, in fact, the engineers of the future progress of the country; you are the ones who are designing the future of your country and the future of dear Iran, and God willing, if you pursue this with determination and high ambition and persistent action, you will achieve results and you will build the future Iran. The point I can convey to you is to know: the policy of "rapid scientific progress" is a fundamental policy for the system; the collective intellect of the country's apparatus has concluded that overcoming difficulties, passing through danger zones and pitfalls in Islamic Iran, if it requires two or three pillars and prerequisites, one of them is scientific progress; this is a fundamental policy that has been pursued for about ten to twelve years; various governments, different officials, relevant elements, the youth themselves, and the elites have worked in these areas, made efforts, and thanks be to God, today when one looks at the product of this work, one becomes hopeful. I have repeatedly told this to the youth, I have told it to the officials, and I now convey it to you: undoubtedly, the youth power of our country, the human resources of our country, our elites, are capable of reaching the peaks of comprehensive progress, bringing their country and nation to that level; this ability exists in you. We previously said this - based on the experiences of others - and gradually it has become an experience for us as well. I have often said: today, any scientific and technological work in the country that has its infrastructure exists can be accomplished by an Iranian, a young Iranian, and an Iranian elite; there is nothing that we can say that the Iranian talent and elite cannot create, produce, or build; unless the infrastructure does not exist in the country, which must be created. The condition and level of our country's talent is at such a level. The real progress of the country is not possible except through scientific progress; the reason we said the main discourse and the main policy is this, is this. Real progress will not be achieved without scientific progress.

Some countries may transfer their underground productions, their oil, their barrels of oil, to the owners of wealth and knowledge in the world, buy their products, and a superficial appearance of progress may arise, but this is not progress; progress occurs when it is "endogenous"; when it relies on the internal talent of a nation. The weight and credibility of countries and governments and nations are also dependent on this endogeneity. If a movement, a leap, a growth arises from within, it gives weight to a country, it gives credibility, it gives value, it gives dignity; but if it is not from within, if others come, [credibility is not gained]. Well, during the tyrannical regime, the foreigners and Westerners were ready to carry out some of the nuclear technology-related works in the country; they were signing contracts. Suppose now that the Bushehr power plant, which we have obtained with all this effort after years, was supposed to be built by the Germans - [who] took the money, pulled it up, and did not respond after the revolution - well, suppose a nuclear power plant from some Western country comes here, builds it, manages it, and we use its electricity. This does not count as any weight for a nation; it has no value. The time when credibility and weight for a country arises is when it demonstrates its own capabilities. When this capability arises in you, then you can, under equal conditions, also utilize the capabilities of others, just as they will utilize your capabilities. One of the friends rightly said, (3) it is obvious that a country cannot prepare all the seasons and levels needed in scientific and technological matters by itself; it must also take from others; however, this taking from others is not in the form of reaching out to others; it is in the form of equal and reciprocal transactions; you give knowledge, you receive knowledge; you give technology, you receive technology; your respect in the world is preserved. This is necessary.

I want to tell you dear youth, who are the children of the revolution and the children of the Islamic system, that the enmity of the front that is currently against Islamic Iran and is hostile is concentrated on this point of Iran becoming powerful; they do not want this to happen. This overarching view should always be kept in mind in all events and issues - political issues, economic issues, various international and regional issues related to your country - do not forget it. There is a powerful political front in the world today that does not want Islamic Iran to become a powerful country, to become a powerful nation; it has been this way since the beginning of the revolution. I want to convey this to you: in 1979, when the Islamic revolution occurred in Iran and created a great uproar in the world, a number of first-rate political elites in the West - such as Kissinger, Huntington, Joseph Nye, these prominent political elite figures from America and Europe - published a series of articles in the early days of the revolution, during a period of time; the content of these articles and writings was a warning to the Western political apparatus - to the Western political system, Western governments - warning them, saying that this revolution that has occurred in Iran does not merely mean a change of a ruling body and a replacement of ruling bodies, it means the emergence of a new power in the region - what they call the Middle East - which I do not like this term at all - and what we call the West Asia region; a new power is emerging that may not reach the level of Western powers in terms of technology and science, but in terms of political influence and power to manipulate its surrounding space, it is either higher than or on par with them and will create challenges for them. They warned of this at that time, they raised the alarm. This means that for them, the emergence of such a power meant that the Western influence in this sensitive, wealthy, and strategically very important region - this point of connection of three continents to each other and the center of oil and wealth and important minerals needed by humanity, which the West has always insisted on dominating - politically, economically, and of course culturally - would be lost or at least their dominance would be shaken; they predicted this at that time and, of course, they understood it correctly. Today, after more than three decades, gradually that nightmare they saw has turned into reality, meaning a large national regional power has emerged that various economic, security, political, psychological, and propaganda pressures have not been able to bring it down; and on the contrary, it has been able to influence the nations of the region, stabilize and spread Islamic public culture, and make the nations of the region feel their identity.

The events that occurred two years ago in our region were very important events; you see how the Westerners reacted to them. The events in Egypt, the events in the North African region, the events on this side, were very important events; this awakening of nations with empty hands, standing against the humiliation that the West, especially America, imposed on them through their agents, was a very great event; of course, it is not over; they think they have suppressed it; in our view, it has not been suppressed; it was a historical turning point that the region is passing through; its final fate is still undecided; the Westerners also know this, in their interpretations, it is the same; they are still worried, they do not know what is happening in the region. This is thanks to the uprising of the Iranian nation and the establishment of the Islamic Republic system and thanks to the Islamic revolution that heralded the emergence of a deep, steadfast, talented, and growing national power - such a power.

Well, now you - the collection of elites throughout the country, in every field of science and technology and previously research, are indeed a valuable number of individuals forming this vast collection that is carrying out this historical mission - today you have put your shoulders under the burden of such a great event. The important thing is that your movement does not fall behind, the important thing is that there should not be a stroke or interruption in the middle. In all important social, political, and military movements, this is the case; when a movement starts, when a big and long-term task begins, one should not allow an interruption to occur in the middle. We saw this clearly during the Sacred Defense; when a movement started, if that movement did not fall behind, it would reach victory; [but] if in the middle, the determination weakened, doubts arose, laziness occurred, and the work fell behind, failure would follow. You must not allow this rapid scientific movement to fall behind.

Of course, my audience is all the parties involved; both you dear youth who are working, learning science, researching, nurturing yourselves from within, and occasionally producing outstanding and interesting works - that the very words you said here are among those works; work is not just physical work; presenting ideas, presenting opinions, striving to reach better opinions, is among the most virtuous works; of course, it should not remain at the level of mentality - you are the audience, as well as various institutions; the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Health and Treatment, and the Scientific Vice-Presidency.

This Scientific Vice-Presidency of the President is a very important section, a very sensitive task - this Vice-Presidency was established at my insistence, following my pursuit several years ago - and then the Elite Foundation. There were those who truly served; Ms. Soltani, Mr. Vaez-Zadeh, and today Mr. Sattari - who is the son of a martyr - (4) are responsible for this important Vice-Presidency and this important foundation. My recommendation to the officials of the Scientific Vice-Presidency and the Elite Foundation is that they should pursue the work; do not start the work from scratch; outstanding works have been done, proceed based on those works; try to identify the gaps, find the deficiencies and weaknesses, and compensate for them; do not lose the strengths and points of strength.

In my opinion, the most important task that these two ministries and this important Vice-Presidency can perform is that they must devote their efforts to laying the groundwork for scientific innovation; innovation is important. This innovation process should not stop; every step should bring forth the next step. In order for us to maintain the innovation process in the country, a constant monitoring is necessary; the respected officials present in the Scientific Vice-Presidency must constantly monitor this scientific process in the country; they should see where the knots are, where the bottlenecks are, where the problems are, where the inconsistencies are, and resolve them. The Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, which certainly addresses these issues within the limits of its duties and responsibilities, is important; the Scientific Vice-Presidency, which is a staff organization for coordinating the institutions, and the scientific institutions of the country, namely these two ministries, and research institutes and centers of various sciences and technologies that are the executors of the work, must all act in coordination; inconsistencies must be eliminated.

Of course, our scientific growth today is very good on a regional and global scale. The absolute number of our growth is good, our growth rate is also very good, meaning the speed of progress is very high; however, this is not the criterion; this speed must be maintained. The existence of scientific growth speed does not mean that we have reached the goal or even come close to the goal; because we were very far behind. The world does not wait for us to advance while it watches; the world is also constantly advancing; of course, our speed is greater, we must maintain this speed. If this speed of scientific growth is maintained, there is hope that we will reach the peaks, reach the forefront; and as I have repeatedly stated, our country and our scientific centers should become scientific references for the world. This must happen, and God willing, this work will be done. Of course, I do not imagine that this work will be accomplished in five, ten, or fifteen years; no, I said several years ago that you should envision this future fifty years from now, forty years from now, when anyone in the world wants to access new scientific findings, they will have to learn Persian; set this as your goal. Make it so that in the world, others need your knowledge, they are compelled to learn your language to access your knowledge; this is possible; this work is possible.

The late Dr. Chamran - martyr Chamran - was a scientific elite; now he is famous for war and martyrdom and guns and such things, but he was a prominent scientific elite; he studied at one of the prestigious universities in America, which he later left and came, and in Lebanon and then in his own country engaged in jihad. He told me that in American universities - especially including the one he studied at - the top elites were few, and Iranians were among them more than anyone else. Iranians are above the average global talent; we have repeatedly heard this from others; I mentioned that even now experiences show this.

The point I have emphasized from the beginning and has not yet been fully realized is the issue of the connection between science and industry, university and industry, research centers and industry; which, of course, I have seen for several years that this is circulating in the language of students, elites, and officials as well. This is a very important point. We have a scientific collection here, we have an industrial collection here; our industrialists are eager to access the scientific advancements and research of our universities and scientific centers; our scientific institutions also need a consumer market for their knowledge to continue their flow like these bubbling springs; there is no logical and complete relationship between them. If we can establish this relationship between industry and university, industry and research centers, or in a general sense, industry and science completely, the result will be that both our industrial institutions will grow - they will refer to universities to solve their problems, they will solve their problems and utilize their scientific advancements in their industrial work - and our universities will also flow; like a dam that has been created, but has no irrigation networks; well, this dam is of no use. Half of the work of the dam is to create the wall and collect water behind it, the other half is to create irrigation networks so that the water of this dam can reach the needed points and thirsty lands; this must be done. Of course, both companies and factories must refer to scientific centers more than before, and scientific centers must prepare themselves more than before. We should witness hundreds of commissioned research projects - of course, domestic commissions - in universities and scientific centers every year. Today, one of the points that I see as a significant weakness - many young people and professors and such sometimes say - is that scientific work is done based on foreign commissions [it is] not work that the country needs; I do not want to completely prohibit it, but that you sit here and do scientific and research work for a need that some scientific or technological institution in the world has found and takes this from you at a cheap price, this is not art; you should look and see what the internal need is, this research work of yours - especially at the doctoral level and higher levels - where does it benefit the country, which gap does it fill in the country.

Therefore, a serious and great competition in innovation - a competition in the true sense of the word, both in sciences and in technology - must truly arise. In these theses - especially at the doctoral level - one of the things that must definitely be taken into account is the point of innovation; it should be shown where the innovation is here; and this should be the criterion for evaluation, the criterion for scoring. The National Elite Foundation must work seriously, an environment of scientific vitality must be created; if this happens, the Iranian specialist residing abroad will also be eager to return; the talented Iranian youth will also be eager to stay in their homeland and work for their country.

One fundamental and important point also exists here, and that is the point of piety and God-consciousness. Our elite community - girls, boys, youth in general; their professors - in the shadow of piety and God-consciousness and purity and attention to God, their abilities will be multiplied, their progress will be facilitated. One of the greatest advantages you have is the purity of youth; this is something that does not always remain with a person. In youth, there is a purity and brightness that makes attracting divine mercy easier for a person; and if God Almighty makes the path easier for a person - فَسَنُیَسِّرُهُ لِلیُسرى‌ - (5) helps and prepares the ground for the ease and smoothness of work, a person will achieve goals much more easily. Value the piety, purity, faith, and brightness that you have - which is the ground for spirituality - and ask God Almighty to help you and help your country, God willing, so that we can reach the desired points for our country and nation. I will always pray for all of you, God willing, as I have prayed until now.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.