Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei met with a group of scientific elites and medal winners from Sharif University of Technology on Monday. During the meeting, the medals won by the elites in national and international scientific competitions and olympiads were dedicated to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
During the meeting, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution described the meeting with a group of young scientific elites of the country as opening a window toward a beautiful garden to let fresh air in and a way of unceasing hope in the realization of the lofty goals of the Islamic establishment and the country. The Leader added, “I thank the Almighty God for you good, pious and elite youths of the country and these young people must thank [God] for the bounty of being elites and for their high potentialities and talents.”
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei stated that the remarks made by the scientific elites were mature, correct, accurate and conforming to the Islamic establishment’s ideals and emphasized, “Elite cells, which are scattered across the country like greenhouses, will certainly imbue the future of the country with fragrance of science, experience, talent, religiosity and revolutionary spirit.”

Referring to the prevalence of the science generation discourse in the country and emergence of its scientific outcomes, the Leader said “Scientific effort and movement in the country must by no means be slowed down or stopped and it must continue at a higher speed.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described scientific medals won by the scientific elites of Iran as very valuable and a symbol of internal talent and majestic identity of these young people, noting, “The spiritual value of these medals is much higher than their material one and for this reason, I accept the medals presented [to me] by the young elites by all means and with honor, but I will return those [medals] to them later.”
Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the issue of having religious and revolutionary commitment was very important along with scientific effort and emphasized, “Scientific progress will not make a nation and country happy on its own, but combination of the scientific movement with lofty spiritual and revolutionary ideals will pave the way for resolving the country’s problems and help it turn into a role model for the region and the Islamic world and [even] the entire globe.”
The Leader said the reason behind the existing gaps, shortages and weaknesses in the foundations of the Western civilization despite its enormous material advances was lack of spirituality and divine ideals, saying, “[The existence of] various intellectual, practical and moral deviations, the collapse of the family institution, spiraling violence, moral corruption and [frequent] cases of suicide in Western societies, America in particular, are results of this issue and [this is why] some American thinkers and scholars have openly admitted to [the existence of] these gaps and maladies and the lack of ethics [in Western societies].”

Referring to increasing cases of violence in the American society and the large number of massacres by firearms, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, “Murder and the widespread of arms have turned into a serious problem in America whose solution is to put an end to use of guns by people, but due to the domination of the mafia of weapons production companies in America, the country’s government does not dare to declare use of weapons illegal.”
Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned “paying serious attention to religious and divine ideals and revolutionary commitment” as requisite for the country’s real progress and emphasized, “This issue must receive special attention in all areas, including economy, politics, scientific work, management of the country and vetting of [state] managers.”
The Leader said the third factor for progress of the country was “steadfastness and resistance on the path of religions and revolution” and added, “Such great achievements as the victory of the Islamic Revolution or the success in the eight years of the Sacred Defense [the Iraqi imposed war against Iran] and also countering pressures and adversities against the Islamic establishment were owed to human beings who showed steadfastness and resistance and did not go astray or experience doubt on the path of religion and revolution. [Therefore,] those people who have doubts [about continuing the march] on the path of religion and revolution must be avoided.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then mentioned “jihadi presence” in various fields, especially in those areas, which affect the future outlook of the country, as another factor for the success and progress of the nation and added, “Taking jihadi measures means not getting tired in the face of hardships and impediments and having faith in one’s path and movement on the basis of [good] thinking and logic.”

Ayatollah Khamenei described the present young generation as being much more capable, aware and smarter than the first generation after the Islamic Revolution, and referring to the student movement, said, “The student movement means the jihadi movement on the path and in the service of the ideals of the revolution, rather than speaking against the ideals.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, “I like faithful and revolutionary youths very much and support them regardless of where they are and it is a duty for presidents and [other] officials of universities as well as concerned ministers to double their support for faithful and revolutionary youths in universities.”
The Leader then touched upon the remarks made by a top student about creating necessary conditions for elite women and said, “Officials of universities must provide [enough] facilities and conditions that female academicians and researchers would be able to not only keep up their scientific work, but also fulfill their duties as wives and mothers raising children and would not have to abandon their scientific career [to attend to those duties].”
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei also referred to remarks made by another elite student with regard to the Economy of Resistance and said, “The Economy of Resistance is an idea, which has been already tested in the world and is not specific to us.”

The Leader noted that the way that the Economy of Resistance is to be taken advantage of depends on large-scale goals of [individual] countries, saying, “Apart from the orientation and [how to take] advantage [of the Economy of Resistance], it is an acceptable fact that the Economy of Resistance would protect countries against various global impulses, both out of goodwill and ill will.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned the use of the Economy of Resistance by Americans as the reason behind the US scientific and industrial advances in the past 150 years and pointed out, “Of course, Americans used this idea to promote materialism and [the rule of] money, but this accepted global experience can be taken advantage of with a more sublime orientation.”
Ayatollah Khamenei described Iran’s potentialities and natural capacities as very diverse and expanded and, of course, unknown, and emphasized, “Existence of such capacities is very good luck for the young generation to take advantage of and help the country achieve material and spiritual progress at the same time.”

Before the Leader’s remarks, Dr. Mahmoud Fotouhi Firouzabadi, the President of Sharif University of Technology, pointed to the prominent role of the university in the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Sacred Defense and also in boosting the country’s scientific might and progress. He presented a report on the achievements and programs of Sharif University of Technology, noting, “Sharif University of Technology is trying to play an effective role in the sustainable and endogenous scientific progress and upliftment of the country and to take part in solving problems of national importance.”
At the beginning of this meeting, Messrs.:
•    Morteza Hassani, official in charge of the Student Basij Department of Sharif University of Technology and holder of a bronze medal from the National Physics Olympiad;
•    Mohammad Saeed Sarafraz, doctoral student of electrical engineering at Sharif University of Technology and holder of a gold medal from the National Mathematics Olympiad;
•    Mehdi Yousefi, exemplary researcher and economic activist of the Islamic world
And Ms. Sara Mashhoun, doctoral student of nanotechnology and holder of a gold medal from the National Astronomy Olympiad, as well as a number of other students of Sharif University of Technology expressed their viewpoints and concerns.

The most important topics discussed by the students included:
•    Criticism of the conflict between the country’s scientific structure and the Islamic Revolution’s monotheistic orientation and the necessity of taking the university back to the Islamic Revolution’s track as much as possible;
•    Possibility of change in the university through reliance on spontaneous revolutionary cells and the necessity for trusting faithful youths;
•    Criticism of not enough maneuvering room for revolutionary youths;
•    Necessity of unity among Islamic countries and reducing reliance on the arrogant system through sharing the model of the Economy of Resistance;
•    Necessity of more resilience in the academic system with regard to married students and the need for providing grounds for the education and employment of this group of students;
•    Necessity of making plans to teach students in ways that would enable them to handle the real issues of life;
•    Criticism of lack of balance between selection of academic courses and necessity of holding creditable olympiads in all those courses;
•    Proposal for launching university matching-up to the principles of the Islamic Revolution; and
•    Necessity of reforming and revising certain planning structures and fundaments of the country.