Call for Removal of Obstacles Facing Knowledge-Based Firms

Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday legal infrastructures should be put in place to facilitate the activities of knowledge-based companies, as scientific progress paves the way for economic development. 
"The required legal infrastructure should be established for knowledge-based companies, and obstacles facing them should be removed," the Leader said during a meeting with scientific elites in Tehran, his website reported. 
He added that practical steps should be introduced to cut red tape for these firms, so that they can get the necessary permits in a shorter period of time. 
Ayatollah Khamenei also called for an end to the monopoly in scientific field, stressing that more knowledge-based companies should be established in the country. 
He emphasized the need for further scientific research and said progress in the field of science could help resolve some of the economic problems confronting the country. 
"Good solutions can be found for these issues with the help of scientific elites," he said. 
Iran's economy has been squeezed since US President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, which assures Iran access to world trade in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
Iran has responded by gradually surpassing the nuclear commitments made in the accord and has promised to further scale back its nuclear obligations unless the Europeans salvage the pact by shielding Tehran's economy from unilateral US penalties.
It has so far exceeded the deal's limits on nuclear enrichment purity and stockpiles of enriched uranium as well as research and development. Tehran says its measures are "reversible".

Nuclear Program 

In his speech, the Leader reiterated that the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic is entirely peaceful and it is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons despite having nuclear technology.
"We could have gone down that path but, according to Islamic principles, we said the development of nuclear weapons is religiously forbidden," he said, referring to his fatwa (religious decree) against nuclear weapons. 
"So there is no point in spending money on building and stockpiling weapons, whose use is haram [religiously forbidden]." 
Ayatollah Khamenei hailed the country's progress in the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology, but urged the scientific community to redouble efforts to help elevate Iran's scientific status in the world. 
He added that certain domestic groups are trying to dishearten the youth by undermining the scientific achievements made so far and called on scientific elites not to get discouraged.