Hawzah News Agency- In a message to scientific and sports medalists on the world stage, the Leader described the role of elite youth as unparalleled and said the key to "a stronger Iran" lies in elites' scientific breakthroughs. He stressed that within the framework of the overarching strategy "Knowledge is Power," the country's progress requires a deep and accelerated scientific leap, and officials must both provide the infrastructure for this leap and maximize the use of individual capacities and the collective wisdom of elites.
Main points of the Leader's message to scientific and sports elites:
- Iran's authority depends on scientific and technological power
- The necessity of a deep and accelerated scientific leap
- The role of elites in the country's progress and authority
- Commendation of scientific and sports medalists
- Expanding the concept of elite status across various fields
- The necessity of practical gratitude for the blessing of elite status
- Applying science to solve the country's problems
- Strengthening basic sciences and the humanities
- Scientific boundary-breaking and solving problems
- Supporting creativity and innovation
- Strengthening scientific and technological self-reliance
- Linking universities with industry and the market
- Developing knowledge-based companies and startups
- Focusing on strategic issues of water, soil, food, and energy
- Developing artificial intelligence and advanced technologies
- Elite participation in policymaking and decision-making
- Countering efforts to discourage and weaken elites
- Turning Iran into a global scientific and technological reference
- Making Persian one of the world's reference languages of science
- Realizing the new Islamic-Iranian civilization
The full text of the Leader's message, read tonight at a ceremony honoring scientific and sports medalists at the "Medalists of the Nation" event by Hojatoleslam Haj Ali Akbari, is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
These days, according to one account, coincide with the martyrdom anniversary of the master and lady of the women of Paradise, Hazrat Siddiqa Athar, Fatima Zahra, peace and blessings be upon her.
It is remarkable that the time of her martyrdom remains unknown, just as the honorable burial place of that divine light remains hidden, and at a higher level, her rank and dignity are unknown and beyond human comprehension. She is an exemplary figure in worship, servitude, and devotion to God; and the highest example in special and all-encompassing companionship with the Great Prophet and valiant defense of the guardianship of Amir al-Mu'minin, peace and blessings be upon them and their household; and in teaching knowledge and instruction, in timing and rising for truth, and in steadfastness and clarification; and the foremost model in patience, sacrifice, selflessness, unassuming service, and solidarity in society; and a model in wifehood, motherhood, and raising the children and descendants of the pure Imams, peace and blessings be upon them, who are the leaders of humanity; and a model in effort, striving, struggle, purity, adornment, piety, luminosity, and spirituality; and in a word, a model for all believing women and men. Among the brilliant virtues of Fatimid society is that it opens the roadmap for great social movements, presence in fields and arenas of struggle and jihad, popular movements, and even the will to progress in scientific fields and humble, unassuming service for the revolutionary and Muslim nation of Iran.
Our dear Iran at this juncture is more than ever the manifestation of will and hope, and the role of Iranian elites and talented, capable youth in this hope and progress and in stepping toward its brilliant future is unparalleled. However, the geography of elite status is not limited to the domain of science and technology or sports and various skills. Any kind of positive and desirable excellence can realize elite status.
These days we are witnessing the manifestation of elite status by distinguished individuals from the people of this land who, with an eye to a broader horizon, strive to elevate the sacred flag of their homeland. These are the elites of insight and jihad. We consider the "Riz Ali Khajavis" and "Ali Landis" as elites whose names should be inscribed at the entrance of cultural centers, and among this category are the bright flowers of society—martyrs and self-sacrificing individuals who, through the sacrifice of their lives and health, left an extraordinary impact on the destiny of Islamic Iran and its dear nation and received the medal of servitude from the One God.
First, I take the opportunity to congratulate the dear people of our country and each and every achiever on the numerous medals and scientific honors won in Olympiads in astronomy and astrophysics, mathematics, earth sciences, geography, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and artificial intelligence, humanities, as well as the various recent sports honors, and I express my appreciation and recognition for the determination and will of the pioneers of the caravan of honor and hope and the flag-bearers of the country's progress across all elite groups, from adolescents and youth to coaches, professors, and sages.
The motivation and hope of elites for transformation in the country is a burning flame that I have witnessed from near and far over the years and decades, and observing the great and hope-inspiring movement of elites and the scientific current in the country and the manifestations of this movement in repeated, consecutive, and annual championships in scientific fields, Olympiads, and sports for all the Iranian nation is honorable and pride-inspiring.
The brilliant rankings of our hardworking athletes in various fields in recent days and months and the setting of new records speak of their effort, determination, will, and faith.
Those athletes who, with their physical strength, spiritual and moral fortitude, faith, and continuous effort, add to the authority of dear Iran before the eyes of all nations and display the vitality of the zealous Iranian nation to the whole world; those female athletes who make the honorable symbol of Iranian women's dress shine in the world; those sports medalists who create joy and enthusiasm in the heart of the Iranian nation and grant dignity to the proud flag of Islamic Iran—each contributes to and is effective in giving meaning to a strong Iran to their own extent.
Since these days are days of vitality and attention to science and research in universities, seminaries, and schools, I deem it appropriate to say a brief word on this matter to those interested in knowledge, the elites of the nation, and the sages of dear Iran.
Elite status is a divine blessing and gift, and its main source is talent and intellectual capacity, which the Iranian nation, especially our country's youth, enjoys as a great God-given blessing and wealth. Reason and servitude require that one properly fulfill gratitude for divine blessings, and if gratitude is expressed in all its levels—heart, tongue, and action—the path to reaching the perfection of that blessing is provided.
Appreciation of the blessing of elite status must first be undertaken by the elite person themselves, and then at subsequent levels in their surrounding environment—from parents and family, teachers and professors, to the school and university atmosphere and the country's system—so that this capacity may grow and increase and be properly utilized. Accordingly, the elite person bears a heavier responsibility in practically thanking for this blessing, and it is fitting that in addition to empowering and developing their own elite status, they employ this talent in the best possible way to solve the country's and society's problems.
An elite is not a person who, merely by possessing notable talent and intelligence, thinks like a separate thread only of fleeting and personal desires; an elite is one who cares about the growth of their talent, defines themselves as an influential element in society, and uses their talent and capacity for both their own growth and that of their society.
The Iranian elite has shown that knowledge and talent can be transformed into tools for solving the real problems of the people and the country, and from stem cells and nanotechnology and biological technologies to advanced aerospace technologies, industry and mining, medicine, agriculture, nuclear, energy, and infrastructure, they have sought to apply their science, knowledge, and elite status. We all observe the effects and manifestations of this progressive movement in real life.
Electricity generation with Iranian turbines in power plants, knowledge-based technology in desalination plants of southern islands, agricultural drones flying over fields, orchards, and rice paddies of the north to optimize agricultural, water, and soil operations, the birth of children to infertile families with Royan's advanced technologies, diagnosis and treatment of incurable diseases with radiopharmaceuticals, monitoring of land, water, and crops with remote sensing satellites, and improvement of productivity and food security with scientific and technological innovations are just some expressible examples of this great and blessed collection, and many others—especially in defense and military fields—have at their time repeatedly dazzled the eyes of the world and will continue to do so in the future.
A strong Iran is founded on scientific and technological authority, and this axis is one of the most important components of Iran's role-playing in global equations and the new world order. Thus, the key to making it ever stronger is the boundary-breaking and problem-solving of elites in the country's scientific issues, and the malice and crimes of the enemies of Islamic Iran against scientists and elites demonstrate the effective role of elites in the country's strength.
That enemy who assassinates prominent scientists and influential elites of our society in the second and third imposed wars and, of course, years before that in scientific environments and their normal lives, cannot bear to see Iran's progress and authority and uses all its tools and methods to weaken the elites of dear Iran—from discouragement and despair to the seizure of their minds and souls, being swallowed in the digestion of modern colonialism, and turning them into nuts and bolts of the machine of plunder and Western capitalism. Unaware that drop by drop of the blood of the elites, scientists, professors, students, and student martyrs of this nation has raised and continues to raise a storm of will and progress.
The Iranian nation remembers the history of its ancient civilization and various honors in sciences and technologies and its possession of world-renowned luminaries and scientists alongside two centuries of severe backwardness and historical passivity during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras. This nation knows the value and worth of the victorious overarching strategy of "Knowledge is Power" and its results in not accepting Western scientific domination, and the rapid scientific and research growth of elites in the last three decades, a considerable amount of which is owed to the special measures and guidance of the great martyr leader, may God sanctify his pure soul.
If before the current juncture and the third imposed war, a new scientific leap was a necessary and essential recommendation for elites, the experience of the two recent wars proved to all that this new scientific leap must be deep and accelerated. For this purpose, in addition to officials of scientific, research, and technological institutions and centers, each and every elite and sage of dear Iran must attend to their main mission in building the glorious future of Islamic Iran and its progress and development, and consider the following points:
First, there must be a serious and precise practical program for the growth of basic sciences and humanities in the country. The growth and development of basic sciences such as physics, chemistry, biological sciences, and mathematics as the main foundations of other applied sciences and technologies is the driver of the country's scientific and technological progress. Every nation that has reached somewhere has reached it through basic sciences, and a country without development in these sciences will always lag behind.
Second, focus on undiscovered truths, boundary-breaking in basic sciences, and continuous competition to solve known unsolved problems in these sciences, especially mathematics, should be continuously considered as a goal and destination.
Third, the key point in the scientific leap is creativity and innovation. Giving the field to creativity and positive imagination, which is the main element of growth and opening in all or most sciences, scientific courage for innovation, creation, and initiative, and increasing personal and national self-confidence for experiencing new and untrodden paths are very necessary and useful. Considering acceptable and attractive incentives for anyone who can present effective creativity is effective in paving the ground for this.
Fourth, self-reliance in solving scientific problems, providing infrastructure, and removing technological bottlenecks for extraterritorial activism and action creates a combination of strength in internal construction for horizon-opening at the global level.
Fifth, giving the field to the talent of elites in experimental and practical fields, including in connecting industry to the university from the earliest student years and facilitating knowledge-based businesses, plays an important role in applying knowledge and the growth of elites.
Aligning the country's scientific and technological capacities and strengthening the link between elites and scientific and research centers with knowledge-based companies, industries, and even startups, alongside the support of executive bodies for the chain from knowledge to consumption, around the axis of important current and future issues of the country—from water, soil, food, and energy to artificial intelligence—can connect and transfer the professor's and student's workbench from university laboratories and research centers to workshops and factories. An accelerated leap will be realized if the economic interests and commercial market of products and services are blended with the motivation and will of elites and establish a stable and continuous connection of the institution of science and research with industry and the consumer market.
Also, the direct and effective role-playing of elites from various theoretical and experimental fields of the university and seminary at the levels of planning and policymaking greatly helps the country's progress, and officials have a duty to take abundant advantage of the individual capacities and rationality and collective wisdom of committed elites.
If this path is properly traversed, the center of gravity and knowledge centers, especially some types of basic sciences, will gradually move from Western countries to Iran, and the country will, in not-so-distant years, become a scientific and technological reference, and the aforementioned goal of our wise and martyred leader—may God elevate his noble station—regarding the transformation of Persian into one of the world's reference languages of science will be realized.
God willing, by the blessing of the blood of the martyrs of the field of elite status and the good prayers of our master and guardian—may God hasten his reappearance—the deep and accelerated scientific leap of the elites and sages of the nation and the all-around progress of an ever-stronger Iran toward reaching the new Islamic-Iranian civilization will be realized and made possible.
Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei
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