Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met this evening with hundreds of university professors. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence said that universities are the driving force behind the progress of the country. He added that if the Iranian nation wants glory, independence, power and wealth, it should strengthen its universities.

Ayatollah Khamenei touched on the important role of universities in the glory and power of the Iranian nation and reiterated: "Our country is in need of scientific jihad in all fields and areas. And I will personally follow up this extremely important issue in a meticulous manner."

His Eminence referred to the obstacles and challenges lying in the way of scientific progress of the country and added: "In Islamic thought, jihad means making efforts to remove the obstacles and face the challenges in any arena. From this Islamic perspective, our country is truly in need of scientific jihad."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the advanced countries' monopoly on science and scientific facilities are among the obstacles that lie in the way of the progress of the country. He further reiterated: "We must overcome these obstacles through a national movement."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated that the Iranian nation enjoys a glorious background in scientific and cultural areas. He added that this scientific background and high intellectual capabilities of the Iranian people are two factors that can prepare the ground for reaching the peaks of scientific and scholarly perfection. He also added that the Islamic Revolution combined these two factors with vigilance and sense of capability.

His Eminence said that the praiseworthy advances in different scientific and technological areas in the country show that the Iranian nation is capable of making greater strides. He added: "We should think of all the advances made during the past 30 years as preliminary steps towards scientific progress of the country, and we should have strategic vision and think about greater strides."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that subjects taught to students of humanities are outdated and reiterated that this shortcoming is indicative of the lack of courage to start intellectual debates against western liberal democracy.

His Eminence said that the right way to challenge western humanities is to offer valid Islamic solutions to the issues that are proposed in humanities. "University professors and instructors of Islamic seminaries should enter this arena with courage and fulfill their heavy responsibilities in this regard," he stated.

Elsewhere in his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei touched on the comments made by the professors in the meeting about the advances in medical areas and added: "We have made considerable progress in other areas as well, but some people constantly promote despair in different parts of the country and try to disappoint the people, students and academics."

His Eminence described such people as destructive termites and reiterated: "Naturally the great movement of the Iranian nation has to face certain challenges, just like any other social and historical movement. But the Islamic Republic has now become an immaculate tree, and Iran is making progress in a fully dynamic fashion."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that generation of thought is very important and that it is even more difficult than production of knowledge. "Iran is the cradle of philosophy. And it is necessary that university professors and instructors of the Islamic seminaries make efforts in the arena of generation of philosophical thought."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the ratification of the comprehensive scientific plan of the country is in its final stages in the Majlis and reiterated: "This plan should be operationalized, and the officials of the organizations that are responsible for this should make careful plans in order to implement the comprehensive scientific plan."

His Eminence said that it is necessary for all scientific and research centers of the country to adhere to the comprehensive scientific plan and added: "The comprehensive scientific plan should be up-to-date and dynamic, and the process of its implementation should be supervised."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that random development of higher education results in a waste of money and manpower and added: "You should identify the main needs of the country in different scientific and technological areas so that the number of universities and students and the required fields and programs are determined on the basis of these needs. And the Ministry of Science should try to develop higher education solely on the basis of these needs."

At the end of this meeting, the participants said their evening prayers led by Ayatollah Khamenei and broke their fast.