KOUROSH ZIABARI In its path towards becoming a regional and international superpower, Iran is achieving remarkable breakthroughs in science and technology which have started to flabbergast the rivals around the world, from the US as a self-proclaimed absolute superpower in economy and science to the neighbouring countries in the Persian Gulf region which are years from reaching self-sufficiency in meeting their domestic needs. Historically, Iran has been known as a cradle of civilisation and home to a number of leading scientists and scholars in various fields of knowledge and academic endeavour. Many of the worlds prominent scientific accomplishments and discoveries were first brainstormed, proposed and realised in Iran and the international community owes to the Iranian scientists its familiarity and acquaintance with a number of outstanding scientific achievements. In the contemporary age and since the victory of Islamic Revolution in 1979, a growing tendency towards scientific activities and scholarly research began to appear in Iran and the countrys scientific developments attracted international attention ever more. The statistics released by the researchers who investigated Irans scientific developments over the past 30 years also indicate that the country has seen an unbelievable advancement in terms of producing knowledge and scientific data. The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) has announced that Iranian scholars and researchers have published a total of 60,979 scientific papers in major international journals during the past 19 years. Mohammad-Hassan About-orabi Fard, the First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Iran has announced that the total number of scientific articles published by the Iranian scientists in the international journals during the first 50 days of the current Iranian year (starting March 21, 2010) outnumbers the total scientific articles published in Iran over the years leading up to the Islamic Revolution. Irans advancements in science and technology have been so notable and outstanding that even the most hostile enemies of the Islamic Republic have admitted the countrys prominent position as a scientific hub in the Mideast and Persian Gulf region. In terms of motor vehicle production and nationalised automobile industry, the statistic of the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers indicate that Iran is currently the 12th largest automaker in the world, surpassing powerful economic and industrial powers such as the UK, Sweden, Italy, Russia and Australia. In terms of aeronautic capabilities, Iran is among the worlds nine countries which are scientifically capable of placing satellites into orbit and have the independent capacity to produce the necessary launching vehicle for it. Powerful economies such as Germany, Canada, Italy and Australia are not among these nine countries. In terms of scientific knowledge production, Iran has made dazzling breakthroughs in the recent years and in some cases, surpassed its most powerful rivals to the surprise of international community. According to Jafar Mehrad, the President of the Islamic World Science Citation Centre, Iran is among the worlds top 25 countries in term of science production. Overall, Iran is currently competing with the worlds most powerful countries in terms of scientific activities and is not far from becoming an incontestable scientific hub in Asia. Irans nuclear programme is in line with the countrys long-term objectives for becoming a scientific superpower in the world and this is what the Western countries cannot tolerate. Nuclear energy is the only arena in which the bullying powers can employ political leverages to pressure an independent nation such as Iran to hinder its scientific progress. If Iran achieves the complete cycle of nuclear energy production, it can meet its needs in electricity, medicine and agriculture and then will be needless of Western states, so this self-sufficiency will be harmful to the long-run interests of the West and thats why they try restlessly to prevent Iran from fulfilling its nuclear programme. However and so forth, the world should accept that Iran is a new scientific power which has the capability to stand on its own feet and even help the other independent nations of the world in their scientific projects. Nuclear energy, Information and Communication Technology, nanotechnology and all of these areas of scientific endeavour are today dominated by the Iranian researchers and scientists and nobody can put a barricade on this path towards progression and supremacy. Pravda