The Islamic Republic of Iran is celebrating the 45th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution at a time when it has made great achievements in various political, social, and economic areas making it the greatest power in the region despite facing numerous sanctions by the so-called big powers. With the view to understanding the extent and importance of the developments and achievements made over the past 45 years, they are briefly discussed below.

Iranian Culture Revived

One of the factors for the Iranian people’s uprising against the regime of Mohammad Reza Shah was that this regime was against Islamic culture and values and tried to promote immorality in society.

The Islamic Revolution put an end to the evil promotion of Western culture by the Pahlavi regime and replaced it with Islamic religiosity and spirituality. As rightly stated by the Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei “The message of the Islamic Revolution is the message of spirituality, attention to spirituality and bringing the element of (Islamic) spirituality in human life.” During the last 44 years, cultural activities of different essence have increased considerably.

Advancement in Science and Technology

Science and technology are the most important factors for the progress of a country. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran made strenuous efforts to compensate for Iran’s backwardness in these areas.

Although various sanctions and the 8-year war imposed by the US through its lackey slowed down the speed of scientific and technological progress in Iran, by relying on their indigenous capacities and capabilities the Iranian youths managed to advance the country independently by making numerous scientific and technological breakthroughs one after the other.

Now, the Islamic Republic of Iran enjoys a prominent scientific position in the region and the world and in some of the sophisticated technologies that were in the monopoly of the Western governments.

Indigenously Educated Manpower

Scientific and technological progress is not possible without specialized manpower. Hence, the Islamic Republic embarked on expanding the educational system of the country at every level.

The number of schools and educational centers has increased considerably. While there were around 40 thousand schools in the pre-revolution era, this figure has increased to over 100 thousand. By the same token, the number of students has increased to more than 15 million.

The Islamic Republic’s success in the field of education made UNESCO praise its efforts. Iran’s progress in higher education has been more spectacular as the number of universities has increased more than 11 times as compared to the pre-Islamic Revolution. Currently, there are 2570 universities in Iran with over 4 million university students as against 170 thousand university students during the Pahlavi times. This has enabled the country to enjoy ample specialized and skilled workforce to accelerate its development in various fields.

Scientific growth in Iran has been so high that the country ranks 13 in the world. The speed of scientific growth has been 11 times more than the average global rate. The Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, announced that the Islamic Republic ranks first in terms of sciences, research, and inventions among Islamic nations.

According to the ISI report, the number of scientific papers after the Islamic Revolution had increased by more than 69 times in 2016. Another outcome of giving priority to science and research is the success of Iranian teenagers in various scientific Olympiads.

Progress made in the Field of Medicine

Medicine is one of the indices of scientific progress of a country. Progress in the medical domain has been 75 times more than the pre-revolution period such that the Islamic Republic now ranks 17 in the world and first in West Asia. During the Pahlavi regime, there were just 10 thousand physicians and the government had to import doctors from other countries. This number has increased by more than 12 times.

Life expectancy in Iran, too, has increased to 77 years, which means 23 years more than before the Revolution. Furthermore, the rate of infant mortality has gone down to less than 1% in Iran making the WHO appreciate Iran twice as the most successful country in this field.

Postnatal care is also carried out seriously and presently vaccination coverage has reached 100% and some of the contagious diseases like infantile paralysis, measles, and rubella have been uprooted. WHO has also referred to Iran as one of the most successful nations in this regard.

Four decades after the Islamic Revolution, people in cities and villages have access to cheap medical services compared to the previous period. Almost every city in the country is equipped with hospital(s) as against 37% of cities before the Revolution. The Islamic Republic stands first in the region and fifth in the world in the field of transplantation.

As for bone marrow transplantation, Iran is the second country after Italy and has the third position in the treatment of infertility. Moreover, Iran has attained great achievements in the production of medicine such that 97% of the medicine needed in the country is produced domestically.

It is also to be noted that the Islamic Republic has reached such a stage in medicine that many patients travel to Iran for treatment and Iran has turned into the pole of health tourism in the region.

Advancement in Stem Cells

Research on stem cells began in the Royan Research Institute in 1990 and with the advancement made in this field, the Islamic Republic of Iran is now considered one of the top nations and ranks 4th in Asia with regards to stem cells. Iranian researchers have successfully applied this science in the transplantation of cornea, bone marrow, and hematopoietic cells, and repairing of damaged cells of the heart, bone, skin, and eyes, and the treatment of spinal ailments and some other diseases.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has the largest cord blood bank in West Asia and has taken big strides in genetics and ranks first in the region. Moreover, the Iranian scientists astounded the scientific circles in the world with the announcement of the birth of the first cloned sheep in 2009.

Nanotechnology Progresses

Nanotechnology is a new science and is rapidly spreading. The Islamic Republic of Iran has succeeded in gaining a high position and making great progress in this field and presently occupies the fourth position in the world in the field of Nanotechnology and nearly 180 companies are active in it. These companies have manufactured over 420 products with the usage of this modern technology. Approximately 35% of these products are related to laboratory and industrial equipment and others pertain to the medical field, textile, and construction. The Islamic Republic of Iran not only renders services of this technology to the Iranian people, but it also exports the products of Nanotechnology to 47 countries.

Nanotechnology renders great help in making more equipped apparatuses for better diagnosis. It has also helped make medicines more effective on the body and faster healing of the patient. Therefore, with the help of this technology, medicine reaches exactly the point that the physician desires and is not spread to the whole body.

This way of treatment is very significant in diseases like cancer. As for construction, various kinds of resistant materials, glasses that absorb ultraviolet rays, and sound-proof and firm pipes have been produced with the help of nanotechnology. It is also used for the improvement of agricultural and livestock works, purification of water, and production of resistant and completely flexible fibers.

Iran and Space Science

Today, the importance of presence in space is felt so much so that the nations without space technology and satellites are called blind. Satellites are very effective in fields like telecommunications, research, studying underground resources, and meteorology.

Understanding the importance of satellites, the Islamic Republic of Iran entered this domain about two decades ago and has attained colossal breakthroughs in it despite many sanctions, pressures, and obstacles illegally put in the way of its progress. The Islamic Republic is the 11th country that has achieved the technology of launching a satellite and the 8th country that has launched a satellite into the Earth’s orbit. It is the only country in West Asia that has the capability of manufacturing satellites.

Currently, several satellites are waiting to be launched to send their information to contribute to the development and progress of the country. The Iranian scientists have also sent living creatures to space and brought them back safely. Thus, Iran has joined the countries that possess space biology. Iran is making preparations to send its first astronaut to space.

Atomic Energy

Nuclear technology is another field in which the Islamic Republic of Iran has made great progress. The Western regimes, especially the US, have made many efforts to demonize Iran’s nuclear achievement in a bid to prevent its progress. This is despite the fact that Iran has done all its activities under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

As fossil fuels are going to finish in the next decades, countries have paid special attention to other sources of energy such as nuclear ones. But, there are a handful of countries that have been able to achieve the sophisticated technology of nuclear fuel production. The Iranian scientists succeeded in April 2006 in achieving the complete cycle of this technology to the astonishment of the world scientific circles.

They quickly increased the uranium enrichment to 3.5% and 5% despite cruel sanctions and pressures by the US and its European allies. Considering the refusal of these regimes to sell uranium with 20% enrichment for Tehran’s research reactor to be used for medical and industrial purposes, the Islamic Republic announced that it would carry out this complicated task independently and finally attained this great success in 2010.

(Source: Research Institute of Imam Khomeini and Islamic Revolution)