Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said on Tuesday that nuclear science is a driver of progress and power.
He was speaking at a joint meeting of Iran’s nuclear medicine, radio-oncology, hematology and oncology associations.
Iran is “duty-bound to move at the frontiers of knowledge,” Eslami said, describing nuclear sciences and technologies as “progress-driving, superiority-creating and power-enhancing” fields that have long been monopolized by major powers.
“The real problem they have with us is our presence at this level and in this arena,” he said.
Eslami expressed hope that greater synergy among specialists would help reduce public suffering and accelerate progress in healthcare.
He said Iran had reached its current level “regardless of their dictates and monopolies,” crediting the efforts of young scientists and the guidance of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
“Administrations come and go with different policies, but this goal-setting remains constant,” he added.
Eslami said recent war-related developments had exposed the pretextual nature of accusations against Iran’s nuclear industry.
“If one pays attention to the recent UN Security Council meeting and the remarks by officials of the three European countries, it becomes clear that the main objective is to stop Iran’s progress,” he said, referring to Britain, France, and Germany.
He noted that during Israel’s missile attacks on Isfahan, the first target was a facility producing radiopharmaceutical fuel, arguing this demonstrated hostility toward technologies that directly benefit people.
Without nuclear medicine and access to domestic nuclear resources, he said, Iran’s medical and healthcare sectors would face deprivation because “they would not provide these materials.”
Referring to the recently-released US national security document, Eslami said artificial intelligence, quantum technology and nuclear science are cited as pillars of progress. “If these are necessary for the US, they must be for other countries as well,” he added.
IRNA