Tehran, August 10, 2025 — In response to recent assassinations attempts against Iranian professors and scientists orchestrated by the US and Israel, Iran’s Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (SCCR) today condemned such attempts at disrupting scientific advancement as acts of’scientific terrorism.’ They stressed these attempts would only serve to strengthen Iran’s trajectory towards progress rather than slow it down. IRNA English
Iran’s SCCR Condemns Targeted Killings of Academics
In an emphatically worded statement, Iran’s SCCR strongly condemned targeted killings of academics during their symbolic “12-Day Imposed War,” characterizing these killings as evidence of enemies’ “inhuman nature and hegemonic ambitions”. Additionally, they pledged their dedication to honor the legacy of fallen scientists and scholars by furthering research and innovation. IRNA English translated this report.
Rejecting Assassinations as Undermining Intellectual Capital
The SCCR rejected the notion that assassinations can deplete intellectual capital of nations, asserting instead that scientific institutions cannot be destroyed by airstrikes on professors’ residences, nor can terror impede Iran’s scientific momentum. Instead, such acts illustrated the fragility of international institutions ranging from UN and IAEA through to IRCCR that often serve as staged theaters where powerful states manipulate real legal and human principles through manipulation or other means. IRNA English
SCCR Charges Western Powers with Hypocrisy
In addition to condemning targeted killings, the SCCR also condemned global powers for remaining silent amid mass suffering. Iranian officials lamented how nations with nuclear arsenals feel entitled to ignore widespread calls to end violence and humanitarian crises across Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq Syria Yemen Afghanistan Libya Sudan as well as Sudan; such criticism confirms Tehran’s belief in double standards in international diplomacy. Essentially this statement reiterated Tehran’s view that international diplomacy operates according to different standards in practice than international diplomacy generally. IRNA English
Domestic Response and Strategic Messaging
Iran has used the SCCR statement as part of their narrative of resistance. By portraying scientists being targeted as an attack on its future, Iranian leadership hopes to galvanize domestic support and build resilience across academic and defense sectors. They continue to depict Western powers as both aggressors and hypocrites – underscoring Iran’s commitment to self-sufficiency in science and technology development.
International Tensions and Broader Context
Although Iran’s Supreme Leader ultimately determines cultural and educational policies through his SCCR, this body plays an integral part in shaping academic and ideological priorities and setting academic and ideological priorities for Iran’s universities and institutes of higher learning. IRNA English
This statement comes after covert operations that have targeted Iranian scientists involved with military and nuclear programs — widespread indications that such operations are part of U.S. and Israeli intelligence operations — targeting Iranian scientists linked with such programs, with many attributing such campaigns to U.S. and Israeli intelligence efforts. Iran maintains that such attacks won’t stop its pursuits but instead only harden their resolve – abcnews.go.com; tcf.org for examples
Summary
The SCCR’s firm response symbolizes both defiance of external aggression and preservation of Iran’s scientific sovereignty. With Iran positioning against assassinations attempts and diplomatic double standards, Tehran indicates its intensified focus on scientific breakthroughs regardless of external threats or geopolitical pressures.
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