'Is This What You Call Freedom And Upholding The Freedom Of Thought?'

In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful...

Translator: The president is reciting verses from the holy Koran inArabic.

Ahmadinejad (through translator): Oh, God, hasten the arrival of Imamal-Mahdi and grant him good health and victory and make us his followers andthose to attest to his rightfulness.

Distinguished Dean, dear professors and students, ladies and gentlemen, atthe outset I would like to extend my greetings to all of you. I am grateful tothe almighty God for providing me with the opportunity to be in an academicenvironment, those seeking truth and striving for the promotion of science andknowledge.

At the outset I want to complain a bit from the person who read thispolitical statement against me. In Iran tradition requires that when we demand aperson to invite to be a speaker we actually respect our students and theprofessors by allowing them to make their own judgment and we don't think it'snecessary before this speech is even given to come in with a series of claims...

(applause)

... and to attempt in a so-called manner to provide vaccination of some sortto our students and our faculty.

I think the text read by the dear gentleman here, more than addressing me,was an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here, presenthere. In a university environment we must allow people to speak their mind, toallow everyone to talk so that the truth is eventually revealed by all.

Certainly he took more than all the time I was allocated to speak, and that'sfine with me. We'll just leave that to add up with the claims of respect forfreedom and the freedom of speech that's given to us in this country.

Many parts of his speech, there were many insults and claims that wereincorrect, regretfully.

Of course, I think that he was affected by the press, the media, and thepolitical, sort of, mainstream line that you read here that goes against thevery grain of the need for peace and stability in the world around us.

Nonetheless, I should not begin by being affected by this unfriendlytreatment. I will tell you what I have to say, and then the questions he canraise and I'll be happy to provide answers. But as for one of the issues that hedid raise, I most certainly would need to elaborate further so that we, forourselves, can see how things fundamentally work.

It was my decision in this valuable forum and meeting to speak with you aboutthe importance of knowledge, of information, of education. Academics andreligious scholars are shining torches who shed light in order to removedarkness. And the ambiguities around us in guiding humanity out of ignorance andperplexity.

The key to the understanding of the realities around us rests in the hands ofthe researchers, those who seek to discover areas that are hidden, the unknownsciences, the windows of realities that they can open is done only throughefforts of the scholars and the learned people in this world.

With every effort there is a window that is opened, and one reality isdiscovered. Whenever the high stature of science and wisdom is preserved and thedignity of scholars and researchers are respected, humans have taken greatstrides toward their material and spiritual promotion.

In contrast, whenever learned people and knowledge have been neglected,humans have become stranded in the darkness of ignorance and negligence.

If it were not for human instinct, which tends toward continual discovery oftruth, humans would have always remained stranded in ignorance and no way wouldnot have discovered how to improve the life that we are given.

The nature of man is, in fact, a gift granted by the Almighty to all. TheAlmighty led mankind into this world and granted him wisdom and knowledge as hisprime gift enabling him to know his God.

In the story of Adam, a conversation occurs between the Almighty and hisangels. The angels call human beings an ambitious and merciless creature andprotested against his creation.

But the Almighty responded, quote, "I have knowledge of what you areignorant of," unquote. Then the Almighty told Adam the truth. And on theorder of the Almighty, Adam revealed it to the angels.

The angels could not understand the truth as revealed by the human being.

The Almighty said to them, quote, "Did not I say that I am aware of whatis hidden in heaven and in the universe?" unquote.

In this way the angels prostrated themselves before Adam.

In the mission of all divine prophets, the first sermons were of the words ofGod, and those words -- piety, faith and wisdom -- have been spread to allmankind.

Regarding the holy prophet Moses, may peace be upon him, God says, quote,

"And he was taught wisdom, the divine book, the Old Testament and theNew Testament. He is the prophet appointed for the sake of the children ofIsrael, and I rightfully brought a sign from the Almighty, holy Koran

unquote.

The first words, which were revealed to the holy prophet of Islam, call theprophet to read, quote, "Read, read in the name of your God, who supersedeseverything," unquote, the Almighty, quote again, "who taught the humanbeing with the pen," unquote. Quote, "The Almighty taught human beingswhat they were ignorant of," unquote.

You see, in the first verses revealed to the holy prophet of Islam, words ofreading, teaching and the pen are mentioned. These verses in fact introduced theAlmighty as the teacher of human beings, the teacher who taught humans what theywere ignorant of.

In another part of the Koran, on the mission of the holy prophet of Islam, itis mentioned that the Almighty appointed someone from amongst the common peopleas their prophet in order to, quote, "read for them the divineverses," unquote, and quote again, "and purify them from ideologicaland ethical contamination" unquote, and quote again, "to teach themthe divine book and wisdom," unquote.

My dear friends, all the words and messages of thedivine prophets from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, to David and Solomon andMoses, to Jesus and Mohammad delivered humans from ignorance, negligence,superstitions, unethical behavior, and corrupted ways of thinking, with respectto knowledge, on the path to knowledge, light and rightful ethics.

In our culture, the word science has been defined as illumination. In fact,the science means brightness and the real science is a science which rescues thehuman being from ignorance, to his own benefit. In one of the widely accepteddefinitions of science, it is stated that it is the light which sheds to thehearts of those who have been selected by the almighty.

Therefore, according to this definition, science is a divine gift and theheart is where it resides. If we accept that science means illumination, thenits scope supersedes the experimental sciences and it includes every hidden anddisclosed reality.

One of the main harms inflicted against science is to limit it toexperimental and physical sciences. This harm occurs even though it extends farbeyond this scope. Realities of the world are not limited to physical realitiesand the materials, just a shadow of supreme reality. And physical creation isjust one of the stories of the creation of the world.

Human being is just an example of the creation that is a combination of amaterial and the spirit. And another important point is the relationship ofscience and purity of spirit, life, behavior and ethics of the human being. Inthe teachings of the divine prophets, one reality shall always be attached toscience; the reality of purity of spirit and good behavior. Knowledge and wisdomis pure and clear reality.

It is -- science is a light. It is a discovery of reality. And only a purescholar and researcher, free from wrong ideologies, superstitions, selfishnessand material trappings can discover -- discover the reality.

My dear friends and scholars, distinguishedparticipants, science and wisdom can also be misused, a misuse caused byselfishness, corruption, material desires and material interests, as well asindividual and group interests.

Material desires place humans against the realities of the world. Corruptedand dependent human beings resist acceptance of reality. And even if they doaccept it, they do not obey it.

There are many scholars who are aware of the realities but do not acceptthem. Their selfishness does not allow them to accept those realities.

Do those who, in the course of human history, wage wars, not understand thereality that lives, properties, dignity, territories, and the rights of allhuman beings should be respected, or did they understand it but neither havefaith in nor abide by it?

My dear friends, as long as the human heart is not freefrom hatred, envy, and selfishness, it does not abide by the truth, by theillumination of science and science itself.

Science is the light, and scientists must be pure and pious. If humanityachieves the highest level of physical and spiritual knowledge but its scholarsand scientists are not pure, then this knowledge cannot serve the interests ofhumanity, and several events can ensue.

First, the wrongdoers reveal only a part of the reality, which is to theirown benefit, and conceal the rest. As we have witnessed with respect to thescholars of the divine religions in the past, too, unfortunately, today, we seethat certain researchers and scientists are still hiding the truth from thepeople.

Second, science, scientists, and scholars are misused for personal, group, orparty interests. So, in today's world, bullying powers are misusing manyscholars and scientists in different fields with the purpose of strippingnations of their wealth.

And they use all opportunities only for their own benefit.

For example, they deceive people by using scientific methods and tools. They,in fact, wish to justify their own wrongdoings, though. By creating nonexistentenemies, for example, and an insecure atmosphere, they try to control all in thename of combating insecurity and terrorism.

They even violate individual and social freedoms in their own nations underthat pretext. They do not respect the privacy of their own people. They taptelephone calls and try to control their people. They create an insecurepsychological atmosphere in order to justify their warmongering acts indifferent parts of the world.

As another example, by using precise scientific methods and planning, theybegin their onslaught on the domestic cultures of nations, the cultures whichare the result of thousands of years of interaction, creativity and artisticactivities.

They try to eliminate these cultures in order to separate the people fromtheir identity and cut their bonds with their own history and values. Theyprepare the ground for stripping people from their spiritual and material wealthby instilling in them feelings of intimidation, desire for imitation and(inaudible) submission to oppressive powers and disability.

Making nuclear, chemical and biological bombs and weapons of mass destructionis yet another result of the misuse of science and research by the big powers.

Without cooperation of certain scientists and scholars, we would not havewitnessed production of different nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Are these weapons to protect global security?

What can a perpetual nuclear umbrella threat achieve for the sake ofhumanity?

If nuclear war wages between nuclear powers, what human catastrophe will takeplace?

Today we can see the nuclear effects in even new generations of Nagasaki andHiroshima residents, which might be witnessed in even the next generations tocome.

Presently, the effects of the depleted uranium used in weapons since thebeginning of the war in Iraq can be examined and investigated accordingly.

These catastrophes take place only when scientists and scholars are misusedby oppressors.

Another point of sorrow: Some big powers create a monopoly over science andprevent other nations in achieving scientific development as well.

This, too, is one of the surprises of our time. Some big powers do not wantto see the progress of other societies and nations. They turn to thousands ofreasons, make allegations, place economic sanctions to prevent other nationsfrom developing and advancing, all resulting from their distance from humanvalues and the teachings of the divine prophets.

Regretfully, they have not been trained to serve mankind.

Dear academics, dear faculty and scholars, students, I believe that thebiggest God-given gift to man is science and knowledge. Man's search forknowledge and the truth through science is what it guarantees to do in gettingclose to God. But science has to combine with the purity of the spirit and ofthe purity of man's spirit so that scholars can unveil the truth and then usethat truth for advancing humanity's cause.

These scholars would be not only people who would guide humanity, but alsoguide humanity towards a better future.

And it is necessary that big powers should not allow mankind to engage inmonopolistic activities and to prevent other nations from achieving thatscience. Science is a divine gift by God to everyone, and therefore, it mustremain pure.

God is aware of all reality. All researchers and scholars are loved by God.So I hope there will be a day where these scholars and scientists will rule theworld and God himself will arrive with Moses and Christ and Mohammed to rule theworld and to take us toward justice.

I'd like to thank you now but refer to two points made in the introductiongiven about me, and then I will be open for any questions.

Last year -- I would say two years ago -- I raised twoquestions. You know that my main job is a university instructor.

Right now, as president of Iran, I still continue teaching graduate andPh.D.-level courses on a weekly basis. My students are working with me inscientific fields. I believe that I am an academic, myself. So I speak with youfrom an academic point of view, and I raised two questions.

But, instead of a response, I got a wave of insults and allegations againstme. And regretfully, they came mostly from groups who claimed most to believe inthe freedom of speech and the freedom of information. You know quite well thatPalestine is an old wound, as old as 60 years. For 60 years, these people aredisplaced.

For 60 years, these people are being killed. For 60 years, on a daily basis,there's conflict and terror. For 60 years, innocent women and children aredestroyed and killed by helicopters and airplanes that break the house overtheir heads. For 60 years, children and kindergartens, in schools, in highschools, are in prison being tortured. For 60 years, security in the Middle Easthas been endangered. For 60 years, the slogan of expansionism from the Nile tothe Euphrates is being chanted by certain groups in that part of the world.

And as an academic, I asked two questions; the same two questions that I willask here again. And you judge, for yourselves, whether the response to thesequestions should be the insults, the allegations, and all the words and thenegative propaganda or should we really try and face these two questions andrespond to them?

Like you, like any academic, I, too, will keep -- not yet become silent untilI get the answer. So I'm awaiting logical answers instead of insults.

My first question was if -- given that the Holocaust is a present reality ofour time, a history that occurred, why is there not sufficient research that canapproach the topic from different perspectives?

Our friend referred to 1930 as the point of departure for this development.However, I believe the Holocaust from what we've read happened during World WarII, after 1930, in the 1940s. So, you know, we have to really be able to tracethe event.

My question was simple: There are researchers who want to approach the topicfrom a different perspective. Why are they put into prison? Right now, there area number of European academics who have been sent to prison because theyattempted to write about the Holocaust or research it from a differentperspective, questioning certain aspects of it.

My question is: Why isn't it open to all forms of research?

I have been told that there's been enough research on the topic. And I ask,well, when it comes to topics such as freedom, topics such as democracy,concepts and norms such as God, religion, physics even, or chemistry, there'sbeen a lot of research, but we still continue more research on those topics. Weencourage it.

But, then, why don't we encourage more research on a historical event thathas become the root, the cause of many heavy catastrophes in the region in thistime and age?

Why shouldn't there be more research about the root causes? That was my firstquestion.

And my second question, well, given this historical event, if it is areality, we need to still question whether the Palestinian people should bepaying for it or not. After all, it happened in Europe. The Palestinian peoplehad no role to play in it. So why is it that the Palestinian people are payingthe price of an event they had nothing to do with?

The Palestinian people didn't commit any crime. They had no role to play inWorld War II. They were living with the Jewish communities and the Christiancommunities in peace at the time. They didn't have any problems.

And today, too, Jews, Christians and Muslims live in brotherhood all over theworld in many parts of the world. They don't have any serious problems.

But why is it that the Palestinians should pay a price, innocentPalestinians, for 5 million people to remain displaced or refugees abroad for 60years. Is this not a crime? Is asking about these crimes a crime by itself?

Why should an academic like myself face insults when asking questions likethis? Is this what you call freedom and upholding the freedom of thought?

And as for the second topic, Iran's nuclear issue, Iknow there is time limits, but I need time. I mean, a lot of time was taken fromme.

We are a country, we are a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency.For over 33 years we are a member state of the agency. The bylaw of the agencyexplicitly states that all member states have the right to the peaceful nuclearfuel technology.