Statements in Meeting with Nuclear Scientists

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

I am very happy to meet you dear ones, the valuable brothers and sisters active in a national and historical field of honor today. Of course, behind you, we have often spoken well of you, and we have a heartfelt affection and devotion for you. Today is also an opportunity to express our sincerity and devotion to you face to face. We thank God. Of course, these blessings are from God. All blessings come from the Lord of the Universe; "What you have of blessing is from God". The blessing of having capable, intelligent, scholarly, thoughtful, and motivated human resources is also a divine blessing. While we thank you, it is appropriate to express our gratitude to the Almighty for granting you to this nation and this system.

One point is that every person in any region and domain they serve should recognize the value of that service. If the value of this service is recognized by the serving individual, this work and service will continue in the best manner; however, if not, the one who is guarding this position, standing on this tower, watching around this fortress, standing at this point, performing this important task, if they do not understand how significant this work is, it is natural that they will become negligent, doze off, and abandon it. Therefore, the first issue is that we must understand what a great task we are performing in our domain of work.

I would like to make just one statement. Of course, your work has many different dimensions; one aspect is that it has given a sense of national dignity to this nation and this country; this is very important. Nations become trapped when they lose their self-esteem; they accept the servitude of others for free when they forget their own value. This is self-esteem. A wronged nation rises up - like the nations of North Africa and some other countries - when it feels that it has a dignity that has been trampled over time; then it rises, and no force can make it sit down; you are witnessing this; this has happened. This is self-esteem. The revolution gave our nation and our country self-esteem. Time and again, they tried to strike at the thought and spirit of this nation, saying that you cannot; yes, you revolted, but you cannot manage yourselves; you cannot progress; you cannot move alongside the world. Every scientific advancement is a great movement and a great promise to this nation that it can; and your work - the nuclear issue - was able to give this nation self-esteem. This is one aspect of the importance of your work.

These values cannot be measured by material calculations. Of course, the material world measures all these things with money; all human values ultimately come down to money; the plight of the material world is this, and this is what will certainly bring them down. However, the truth of the matter is that some things cannot be measured by money at all. Now, one might casually mention money in a comparative context. I had gone to one of the provinces of the country. Among the meetings we had, there was a meeting with university students and professors; it was a very passionate and beautiful meeting. One of the professors there, who is a scholar - I knew him and he exists - gave a speech. Several people spoke; among them, this scholarly man spoke. To draw the attention of this humble servant and the entire apparatus to this province, he mentioned the advantages of this province; for example, it has this advantage, it has that advantage, these are worth so many billions and it deserves this much expenditure. The essence of what I said at that time - now I cannot recall the exact words - was that I said the things you mentioned are material; you yourself are worth several billion more than these. A scholar and a professor in a city, in a provincial center, can they be compared to the material advantages of a province? This is thought, this is humanity, this is character. You must know that the work you are doing is important.

Of course, the dimensions of the work - as I said - are very numerous. In propaganda, they have tried and continue to try to suggest that this is merely an ideological work; that is, it has no relation to the interests of the nation and the country; while your work is directly related to national interests. The work of nuclear energy is such; it is directly related to national interests. In the report that Mr. Abbasi just presented, part of its connection to national interests has been mentioned. Nuclear energy is work for the nation, for the country, for the future.

The arrogant powers of the world and those who consider ruling the world their right - these arrogant countries - call themselves the global community; while the global community is not them; the global community is the nations and their governments. A few countries call themselves the global community, and in the name of the global community, they issue judgments, speak, reject, and express demands! These few countries have defined their dominance over the world through the monopoly of knowledge and technology. Part of this uproar they create is because they do not want this monopoly to be broken. If nations can advance in the nuclear issue, in space, in electronics, in various industrial, technological, and scientific matters, there will be no way left for their tyrannical and bullying dominance over the world.

One of the greatest crimes committed against humanity was that in the industrial revolution in the world over the past two or three centuries, knowledge became a tool for tyranny. The British, who were among the pioneers of the industrial revolution, used this capability to spread around the world and chain nations. You know what happened in the era of British rule in the subcontinent, in this vast and wealthy scene? It was not just the subcontinent; the entire region of East Asia was under their boot for many years - more than a century - and with the tools of knowledge they had, they dominated the people; people suffered, what humans were destroyed, what aspirations were annihilated, what nations fell behind, what countries were ruined. They used knowledge as a tool in such a way. This is the greatest betrayal to knowledge; just as it is the greatest betrayal to humanity. They do not want this monopoly to be broken. Any nation that can stand on its own feet with independence - not under their umbrella and with their permission and in their control and in their grasp - strikes a blow to this monopoly; and this work has fortunately begun in Iran today.

You must pursue this important and fundamental work with utmost seriousness. Rely on God, and the Almighty God will help you. There is talent, there are human capacities, there are natural capacities; fortunately, today there is also complete political capacity. Sometimes there are natural and human capacities, but political capacities do not exist; the dominance of the enemy does not allow this nation to breathe and these human and natural capacities to come to the fore. The revolution has come and created this political capacity; you can move forward and must move forward.

The uproar they create is aimed at stopping us. They know that we are not seeking nuclear weapons; they have understood this, they know it. I have no doubt that the decision-making and policy-making bodies in those countries standing against us are aware and know that we are not seeking nuclear weapons. Truly, nuclear weapons are not in our interest; in addition to the fact that from a theoretical and jurisprudential standpoint, we consider this action to be wrong and this movement to be a wrongful movement. We consider the use of these weapons to be a great sin and maintaining them to be a futile, harmful, and dangerous endeavor, and we will never pursue it. They also know this, but they exert pressure on this point to stop this movement.

We want to prove to the world that possessing nuclear weapons is not empowering; because the powers that possess nuclear weapons today are facing the most severe problems. They dominated the world with nuclear threats, but today this threat is no longer applicable. We want to say that we are not seeking nuclear weapons and do not see power in nuclear weapons, and we can also break the reliance on nuclear weapons for power. God willing, this nation will do this.

Of course, I want to tell you this; you know, these pressures they exert - sanctions, threats, and assassinations - are signs of their weakness; this shows that whatever they do makes our nation stronger and more resilient. The nation understands that it has hit the nail on the head, it understands that it has chosen the right target, it has advanced the movement well; thus, it has made the enemy angry and furious.

This movement is not just a nuclear movement. Well, today their excuse is the nuclear excuse; they impose sanctions under the pretext of nuclear issues. How many years has the nuclear issue been raised in our country? Sanctions have existed for thirty years. When the nuclear issue was not present, why did they impose sanctions? The issue is one of confronting and opposing a nation that wants to be independent, wants to refuse to submit to oppression, wants to expose the oppressor, and stand against the oppression of the oppressor and convey this message to the entire world; we have conveyed it, God willing, we will convey it more. Sanctions and political pressure will have no effect. When a nation decides to stand, when it believes in divine support and its inner strength and talent, nothing can stop it.

My recommendation is this: raise your spirits. Within your organization, among all those who have taken on this important task, increase the motivation to continue this path. Your work is a great work, an important work, and God willing, it will be a future builder for this country. The issue is not that we will be able to use nuclear industry for purposes that benefit national interests; the issue is that this movement instills determination and resolve in the youth of this country, the scholars of this country, and the people of this country, and keeps them steadfast on this path; this is important. Keeping the nation standing and motivating all segments of the nation is more beneficial and valuable than the industry itself; this work you are doing, and God willing, the Almighty God will help you.

We also pray for you. Wherever it is necessary for us to provide support, I will certainly do so. We believe that God willing, you will remove obstacles one after another from your path and will progress. God willing, your tomorrow will be much better than your today.

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