Statements in Meeting with Elite and Top Scientific Talents

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

Thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the remainder of God on the earth.

Welcome, and I am very pleased and happy to meet this valuable group of dear individuals. Before I begin my remarks, I would like to say a word about this program. Many good points were made, both by Dr. Afshin regarding the work they intend to do and their future plans, which brings joy and hope, as well as the insights, words, research, and suggestions shared by these dear brothers and sisters here, which deserve contemplation, attention, and follow-up. Now that these points have been made, I want to present two matters here.

Regarding the remarks of the esteemed Vice President, you are, thank God, blessed with the gift of youth, and one of the characteristics of youth is that the mind becomes active, works, and envisions great goals in the atmosphere and in the first, second, and third heavens, which is good; I have no doubt about the virtue of this endeavor. However, there is a deficiency in our work: we have plans, programs, policies, and proposals on various issues—those issues that the friends mentioned—but what we lack is "follow-up"; what we lack is pursuing these matters. The President makes a decision, gives orders to the Vice President, who says, 'Yes'; the Vice President instructs the Director General, who also says, 'Yes'; then, after a year, neither the President asks the Vice President what happened, nor does the Vice President ask the Director General what happened; thus, the work remains stagnant. The points you raised were very good; I wholeheartedly approve of them and am pleased to hear them, but please follow through; these require follow-up. See how these can be implemented and realized. This is one matter.

The second point concerns the statements of these dear young individuals who came here to speak. Seven elites of this country came here and spoke on various topics; this is not a trivial matter. Various issues were discussed, from industry and economy to humanities and so forth. What should we do with these? How should we behave and interact with the words of these individuals? My point is this: I say take these words—some of the proposals may be impractical, which is indeed the case, but many of them are practical—see which governmental or non-governmental entity these proposals relate to; as the Vice President—who holds a high position—seek assistance from the President himself, request this from that organization. For example, the issue of Makran was raised, and there is a proposal; very well, who should realize this proposal, which organization is related to it; find that out; consult with the proposer in this regard, and then follow through until it is realized; otherwise, merely making good statements and hearing good words will not bring the work to completion. These are my remarks.

I sincerely thank the friends who expressed thoughtful and good words here. We are in mourning these days; especially I am sincerely in mourning. The incident that occurred is not a small one; the loss of Mr. Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah is not a trivial matter and has truly saddened us. Although this atmosphere is one of public mourning in the country and is genuinely a time of mourning, I did not postpone this meeting. This meeting had been planned in advance; we could have said, for example, it could take place next week; I did not do that; I thought this matter should not be delayed; this orientation towards excellence and elitism should not be postponed; thus, we held the meeting. This meeting conveys a message to us; its message is that although we are in mourning, our mourning does not mean grieving and becoming despondent and sitting in a corner; our mourning is of the same nature as that of Seyyid al-Shuhada (peace be upon him); it is alive and life-giving. We are in mourning, but this mourning drives us to movement, progress, and greater enthusiasm for work. I want this message to penetrate our hearts and souls; we must truly feel that our mourning should also propel us forward. Of course, I have remarks regarding Lebanon and what pertains to this great and dear martyr, which I will express in the near future, God willing.

Regarding the discussion of elites, I have three points in mind that I will briefly mention a few sentences about each. The first point is attention to the reality of elitism in the country: what is the state of our country in terms of the existence of elites and the situation of elitism? Is what we say and what some say exaggerated or not? This is one point. The reason I raise this discussion is that some still deny the merit and capability of Iranians, just as they did a hundred years ago or ninety years ago; either they are neglectful or even deny it. There are still those in our country who are unwilling to accept that in this environment, in the current ecosystem of our country, very significant events may occur that could be new and fresh for the world; there are still some who do not believe this. I want to say a few words about this.

The second point is the way to preserve, multiply, and enhance the effectiveness of elites; what should we do to ensure that the existence of an elite is effective and multiplied, that our elites increase, and that our elite remains elite and is preserved; both themselves and their elitism. I have noted a few brief sentences in this regard that I will present. The third point is the duty of elites; after all, you are elites, and you have responsibilities; those responsibilities must also be articulated, although an elite generally knows their duty.

Regarding the reality of elitism, my point is that we must recognize and appreciate our country and the intellectual, cognitive, and intelligent capabilities of our country that lead to elitism. One of the worst afflictions for an individual, a group, and a country is not to recognize their own assets. Our adversaries strive to conceal or deny our assets; we must not accept their efforts; we must strive, on the contrary, to recognize the assets of our country. One of the most important assets is the elite and the grounds for elite formation, which are primarily natural grounds, and then social, contractual, organizational, and similar grounds.

In my opinion, the most important ground for elitism is "intelligence quotient"; in this regard, our country is among the leading countries in the world; Iran is among the leading countries in the world. I received a report that you have likely seen; it is a report from an international center specifically for measuring the intelligence quotient of nations, which regularly determines the average intelligence quotient of various nations around the world. This report is the updated report for the year 2024, as indicated in the document provided to me. Iran ranks third among the 23 countries I saw in this list—perhaps all countries in the world, over two hundred countries, were calculated; in my report, it was the top 23 countries in the world—among these 23 countries, Iran is the third country. After Iran is Japan, then Singapore, followed by other countries; for example, Canada, Germany, Italy, France. France ranks nineteenth, the UK ranks twenty-first, and India ranks twenty-third; we are ranked third in this list; this is a very important and noteworthy phenomenon; this is the average intelligence quotient of the Iranian nation. I mentioned that the most important ground and capacity for elite formation is human intelligence. Of course, intelligence must be activated, must be put into action, and the grounds must be provided for it, which are also present alongside it. Well, this is a tremendous wealth; that the average intelligence quotient in our country is so high is not trivial; this is a very great wealth, an extraordinary human resource; this is above all that we have in the country in terms of mines, resources, geographical position, and so forth; human power.

Of course, before the revolution, attention was not paid to the issue of elitism and elite cultivation; other matters were focused on. The issue of the intellectual and mental elite was not attended to. After the revolution, this work began. In the early years of the revolution, when young people found the opportunity to enter various fields, I went to the south; I think it was perhaps in 1979 or 1980. There, the young people of the Jihad of Construction, which had just been formed, had built a silo; of course, it was a small silo. A silo apparently has a complex technology. They told me that we can build a silo for the country's wheat capacity; that is, a young person made this claim with such courage. Young people entered the field, they were given opportunities, and they reached a point where now, not only silos, but much more important works have been accomplished by these young people, both in Jihad and outside of it. After the revolution, attention was paid to the capabilities of young elites in the country; however, this is not sufficiently observed in the country, to the extent that it deserves; more work needs to be done in this area.

We need many of the issues that you have raised here. You mentioned the issue of water. We need this spirit, this action, this thought, this capability and knowledge, and follow-up in the oil issue, in the gas issue, in the nuclear energy issue, in nanotechnology, in various matters, in new sciences like artificial intelligence and other sciences. We must bring elites into the field; this is one of the important tasks. In my opinion, this is one of the tasks that the Scientific Vice Presidency of the President can undertake, and the establishment of the Elites Foundation—which was proposed years ago, and fortunately the officials accepted and established this foundation—was for the purpose of identifying elites and engaging them in important work. This was the first issue regarding the reality of elitism in the country.

Regarding the preservation and multiplication of elites, I say that in order to keep an elite as an elite, and for the country to benefit from them, and for them not to think of fleeing the country and leaving, certain actions must be taken; the most important action is that the elite must feel that their existence is impactful in the country; that is what the elite seeks. An elite individual, a young elite, wishes for the country to benefit from their intellectual and scientific output. When an elite comes to the university and faces a closed door, they go to a research center just like that, to a government agency just like that; if this elite remains in the country, they will no longer be an elite; they will seek another job; an elite who resorts to taxi driving for their livelihood may exist! We must not allow the elite to feel that their existence is ineffective; they must feel their impact. Suppose today, for example, a physics elite or a mathematics elite, where should they go? They want their existence to be effective; they have studied and reached the rank of elitism; now in our country, to whom should a mathematics elite refer so that the country can benefit from their existence, their knowledge, their elitism, their mind? Of course, my belief is that here too, the Scientific Vice Presidency can be a connecting link, which is good to pay attention to and pursue. So this first point: the entire apparatus—the government apparatus and other governmental bodies—must strive to utilize elites so that the elite feels their existence is being utilized.

Second: the elite must feel that they can grow. Many of our young people have achieved good positions and ranks in science, but they are not satisfied; they wish to research, they wish to grow, they wish to acquire more knowledge. Many of the elites who leave the country are pursuing this goal. This should not be interpreted as them being angry with the country; no, because their assumption is that in another country—whether this assumption is real or not, I do not know—they can research more, they can learn more. We must provide the means for research here, and for this, large laboratories, workshops, connections with industry, connections with agriculture, connections with mining are necessary. For example, this student who has worked in the field of agriculture may have suggestions regarding water efficiency, seed efficiency, and so on; they must know that they can implement these here, and this is facilitated by connecting with the university, with industry, and so forth; they may present important proposals. This is also an issue: ways to provide research facilities and increase knowledge.

Another important area for the role of elites is the formation of think tanks, which, of course, can currently only be achieved with the help and support of the government; perhaps in the future, it may be different, but at present, if we want to have active think tanks, the government must certainly assist. These think tanks will become a gathering of elites from each field; this encourages them, motivates them to work. Of course, in my opinion, the Scientific Vice Presidency is also the connecting link between these think tanks and the relevant organizations. Of course, bureaucracies must be eliminated. We have a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy in various fields; in some places, it is harmful but not fatal; in relation to the delicate temperament of elites, this paperwork is fatal, and keeping them waiting at the door truly undermines them completely. This is also this [matter]. In my opinion, the esteemed Scientific Vice Presidency should make maximum use of the abundant human capital and expertise.

The third topic is regarding the duties of elites. The first point is that the elite is "responsible". The elite, like all members of society: "Each of you is a shepherd, and all of you are responsible for your flock"; you are responsible wherever you are. Now, one of the responsible elements in society is the elite individual. The responsibility of an elite individual is greater than that of the average people; why? Because they have benefited more from divine favors; the more you benefit from divine favors, the greater your responsibility becomes; because you gain power, gain reputation, gain knowledge, gain wealth, all of which are divine favors. "And whatever blessing you have is from God"; all of these are from God; thus, it increases responsibility. Therefore, the first point is the issue of the responsibility of elites.

The second point; there is an important duty today in the country, and that is the "new scientific surge". A few years ago, we saw that the issue of science and the pursuit of science and crossing the borders of knowledge and similar matters were raised, welcomed, the organizations pursued it, universities pursued it, scientists pursued it, and it had an effect. They said the speed of scientific growth in the country is, for example, about thirteen times greater than the world average; this is very important. The speed of progress is so high. Of course, I said at that time that we should not become arrogant with these statistics; because we are very behind. We must maintain our speed in this quality; well, it has declined a bit, it has not been maintained in this way. Scientific transformations in the world are very rapid. You are all scholars, you see how fast scientific transformations are in the world. We need a new surge, a new movement, a new scientific campaign; who should do this? You elites. Of course, universities are responsible, various scientific centers, research institutes, and so forth are all responsible, but the main agent is the elite individual. Pursue scientific surge, and this is your jihad. Of course, I do not prevent you from other types of jihad—such as financial jihad, explanatory jihad, and so forth—but your main jihad as elites is this scientific movement and new scientific surge and achieving scientific superiority over rivals and adversaries.

We must have scientific superiority; we have enemies. There are reasons for this, which are not the place for discussion here in this meeting; that is, all countries, all nations have rivals, adversaries, enemies, and we have more than many other countries. We must overcome them with scientific superiority, just as if we have had any superiority somewhere, it has been due to this scientific and technological superiority. I have noted here that scientific and technological superiority can sometimes prevent the enemy from inflicting blows on large populations like Gaza and Dahieh. If we had been, for example, somewhat ahead in terms of weapons, certainly, it would have affected the regional situation and could have prevented the igniting of these burning fires of hearts and souls or extinguished them. Scientific movement, scientific superiority, has such implications.

Of course, I also recommend to the elites the "formation of knowledge-based companies". The number of knowledge-based companies, as predicted at the end of the program, is apparently thirty thousand, which we are far from. Of course, the honor of being a knowledge-based company should not be lowered; it should not be done in such a way that the company formed is not genuinely knowledge-based. It must be genuinely knowledge-based, and necessary strictness in evaluations must be carried out, but the number must increase; this is an elite task.

My remarks are concluded. Regarding the issues of Gaza and Lebanon, as I mentioned, God willing, I will address them if life remains. Just one word I want to say, and that is that in our region, the root of the problem—which creates these conflicts, wars, concerns, and hostilities—is due to the presence of those who claim to seek peace and tranquility in the region; that is, the United States and some European countries. If they reduce their evil from this region, undoubtedly, these conflicts, these wars, these confrontations will completely disappear, and the countries of the region can manage themselves, govern their region, and live together in peace, health, and well-being. One day they provoke a country, someone like Saddam; such bitter and harsh events occur; one day he is gone, and his supporters are also absent, and love between two countries becomes like the Arbaeen march that you have seen up close; that is how the matter is, and it is the same with other countries. The presence of those who today claim to seek regional tranquility and lie is the main root of the problems in this region. We hope that, with God's grace, through the high determination of the Iranian nation and with the help of the inspirations of the Islamic Revolution and cooperation with other nations, we can reduce the evil of the enemies from this region, God willing.

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