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02 January 2011
By Kourosh Ziabari
In its path towards becoming a regional and
international superpower, Iran is achieving remarkable
breakthroughs in science and technology which have
started to flabbergast the rivals around the world,
from the United States as a self-proclaimed absolute
superpower in economy and science to the neighboring
countries in the Persian Gulf region which are years
from reaching self-sufficiency in meeting their
domestic needs.
Historically, Iran has been known as a cradle of
civilization and home to a number of leading
scientists and scholars in various fields of knowledge
and academic endeavor. Many of the world's prominent
scientific accomplishments and discoveries were first
brainstormed, proposed and realized in Iran and the
international community owes to the Iranian scientists
its familiarity and acquaintance with a number of
outstanding scientific achievements.
In the contemporary age and since the victory of
Islamic Revolution in 1979, a growing tendency towards
scientific activities and scholarly research began to
appear in Iran and the country's scientific
developments attracted international attention ever
more. Since the victory of Islamic Revolution, a
number of high-ranking, prestigious universities were
established in Iran and the number of university
students increased dramatically. According to the
statistics, the number of university students in the
year 1978 would not exceed 150,000; however, as of
2009, there are more than 2.5 million students
studying in the universities of Iran.
The statistics released by the researchers who
investigated Iran's scientific developments over the
past 30 years also indicate that the country has seen
an unbelievable advancement in terms of producing
knowledge and scientific data. The Institute for
Scientific Information (ISI) has announced that
Iranian scholars and researchers have published a
total of 60,979 scientific papers in major
international journals during the past 19 years.
Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard, the First Deputy
Speaker of the Parliament of Iran has announced that
the total number of scientific articles published by
the Iranian scientists in the international journals
during the first 50 days of the current Iranian year
(starting March 21, 2010) outnumbers the total
scientific articles published in Iran over the years
leading up to the Islamic Revolution.
Iran's advancements in science and technology have
been so notable and outstanding that even the most
hostile enemies of the Islamic Republic have admitted
the country's prominent position as a scientific hub
in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region.
In terms of motor vehicle production and nationalized
automobile industry, the statistic of the
International Organization of Motor Vehicle
Manufacturers indicate that Iran is currently the 12th
largest automaker in the world, surpassing powerful
economic and industrial powers such as the United
Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, Russia and Australia. This
simply shows that Iran is currently the largest
automaker among 57 Islamic countries.
In terms of aeronautic capabilities, Iran is among the
world's 9 countries which are scientifically capable
of placing satellites into orbit and have the
independent capacity to produce the necessary
launching vehicle for it. Powerful economies such as
Germany, Canada, Italy and Australia are not among
these 9 countries.
In terms of scientific knowledge production, Iran has
made dazzling breakthroughs in the recent years and in
some cases, surpassed its most powerful rivals to the
surprise of international community.
According to Ja'far Mehrad, the President of the
Islamic World Science Citation Center, Iran is among
the world's top 25 countries in term of science
production. According to Mehrad, Iran qualified to the
22nd rank in the year 2009 and surpassed
countries such as Scotland, Austria, Denmark, Greece,
Finland, Mexico and Norway and snatched the first
berth among the Islamic countries in term of
scientific papers published in the international
journals.
As to the production of medicines and drugs for the
chronic diseases, Iran ranks the first among the
Middle Eastern countries, the Minister of Health and
Medical Education says.
Overall, Iran is currently competing with the world's
most powerful countries in terms of scientific
activities and is not far from becoming an
incontestable scientific hub in Asia.
Iran's nuclear program is in line with the country's
long-term objectives for becoming a scientific
superpower in the world and this is what the Western
countries cannot tolerate. Nuclear energy is the only
arena in which the bullying powers can employ
political leverages to pressure an independent nation
such as Iran to hinder its scientific progress. If
Iran achieves the complete cycle of nuclear energy
production, it can meet its needs in electricity,
medicine and agriculture and then will be needless of
Western states, so this self-sufficiency will be
harmful to the long-run interests of the West and
that's why they try restlessly to prevent Iran from
fulfilling its nuclear program.
However and so forth, the world should accept that
Iran is a new scientific power which has the
capability to stand on its own feet and even help the
other independent nations of the world in their
scientific projects. Nuclear energy, Information and
Communication Technology, nanotechnology and all of
these areas of scientific endeavor are today dominated
by the Iranian researchers and scientists and nobody
can put a barricade on this path toward progression
and supremacy. - Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian freelance journalist and media
correspondent. He has interviewed political commentator and linguist Noam
Chomsky, member of New Zealand parliament Keith Locke, Australian politician Ian
Cohen, member of German Parliament Ruprecht Polenz, former Mexican President
Vicente Fox, former U.S. National Security Council advisor Peter D. Feaver,
Nobel Prize laureate in Physics Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize laureate in
Chemistry Kurt Wüthrich, Nobel Prize laureate in biology Robin Warren, famous
German political prisoner Ernst Zündel, Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff,
American author Stephen Kinzer, syndicated journalist Eric Margolis, former
assistant of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts,
American-Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud and the former President of the
American Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Sid Ganis. |
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