Vice President Aref says scientific advances key to confronting adversaries

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref says that a 12-day Israeli-imposed war in June produced valuable achievements, describing it as “a battle of science against science.”

Speaking to a group of electronics professors on Saturday, Aref said that during the war, Iran gained the upper hand in areas where “science and technology were given importance.”

He referred to the confrontation between the Islamic Revolution and “Zionist thinking” as a contest of the oppressed against oppressors.

“The front of tyranny has begun its actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the field, and we must be prepared for them,” Aref said.

He stressed that Iran’s long-term advantage lay not in underground resources but in its educated youth. “Today’s conflicts and the weighing of nations against one another are based on soft power,” he said.