Azerbaijan, Baku, March 29 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
The West tries to prevent those Iranian students studying in nuclear sphere, Iran's FM spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, ISNA reported.
Mehmanparast made the remarks at the University of Economic Sciences in Belarus.
"Our country's population is young and has more than 45 million young people under 35 years of age. And speaking of students, there are over 2,000 students in Iran who are under 35 years of age," Mehmanparast said.
He further noted that today poweful countries are seeking ways to monopolize the technology fields.
"There was time when world superpowers tried to pressure other countries with military means. What we witnessed next was that the same superpowers switched to econimic pressure on independent states," Mehmanparast noted. "That period is ending now, and the next period they will try to monopolize modern science and technology."
Mehmanparast noted that if independent countries fail to progress in science and technology fields, they will not be able to maintain their independence.
"Sanctions have been imposed on Iran, and we believe they are illegal. It is cruel not to let Iran have progress in technology, as they know that Iran's nuclear activities are of peaceful nature," the spokesman noted.
He then spoke of the main reason why Iran wants to continue developing its nuclear energy.
"The main reason for that is because some countries only rely on oil and gas exports, but it won't last forever. The reserves will dry out in the near future." he noted. "Thus there is a lot of need for development of nuclear energy technology."