Iran First VP Vows Defense Against Any Threat

Iran's First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref stated that Iran will defend against any threat, emphasizing the country's advancements in indigenous technology and industrial development. Speaking at a meeting of deputy ministers at the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, Aref said the enemy had deliberately targeted Iranian industries during the Ramadan war, but reconstruction was carried out with speed and quality. He noted that recent wars had been technology wars in which the enemy deployed its most advanced capabilities, but young Iranian scientists prevented it from achieving its goals, and the country's defensive capacity improved continuously throughout the conflict.

Aref said post-revolution industrial policy had aimed at transforming assembly-based industry into an indigenous, knowledge-based sector, with research and development and university-industry links at its core. He said the development vision document targets regional leadership through industrial growth based on emerging technologies. He stressed the need to expand economic cooperation with regional countries, neighbours, and groupings such as ECO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, BRICS and the Eurasian Economic Union, saying the "Iranophobia project has failed" and the Islamic Republic's strategy is to develop regional and international partnerships.

"In the era of the fourth industrial revolution, there is no path other than industrial development based on advanced, emerging and indigenous technologies," Aref said, adding that artificial intelligence is no longer a luxury but a practical tool, and that making industry smart is among the country's most important tasks. He called for a two-year strategic document for industrial development and urged the ministry to present operational solutions for challenges in the automotive sector.

According to Mehr News Agency, Aref's remarks underscore Iran's commitment to self-reliance and technological advancement in the face of external threats.