Youths are Iran’s greatest asset, scholar says

TEHRAN - Modjtaba Sadria, a prominent scholar, has said that the people between ages of 25 to 40 are the main social group in the Iranian society which form the main wealth of the country.

“Today, for the first time over the last 200 years, the youths between 25 and 40 years of age are the main group in the society. Today, our society has the youngest and most qualified population. It is a great and extraordinary situation,” he said during a speech at a conference in Isfahan on Thursday.

He said the youths and their capabilities should be used to boost the country’s economy and counter the U.S. sanctions.

“We should invest on our youths,” the scholar suggested.

Sadria added, “We should accept this fact that we should not rely on oil revenues anymore. The youths should be allowed to create jobs through relying on their own abilities and creativity.”

It is through small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that Iran can improve its economic situation, the scholar pointed out.

“You have heard about Japanese corporations such as TOYOTA, NISSAN, MAZDA and SONY. The biggest Japanese corporations constitute only 7 percent of Japan’s economy. Small and medium enterprises form the main part of Japan’s economy,” he explained.

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. unilaterally from the 2015 nuclear deal in May and ordered sanctions against Iran. The first round of sanctions went into force on August 6 and the second round, which targets Iran’s oil exports and banks, were snapped back on November 4.

‘Trump’s policies are cry of U.S. desperation’

Sadria also said that policies being adopted by U.S. President Donald Trump in quitting the international agreements and organizations are “cry of desperation”.

“I believe that Mr. Trump is not an expression of the U.S. power. I deeply believe that he is cry of desperation of the U.S.,” remarked Sadria, a psychoanalyst.

He added, “A year before the end of the Second World War, the representatives of Britain and the U.S. held a meeting in Bretton Woods and organized the international system after the war. This system includes the United Nations, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.”

However, he said, the U.S. is aware that its influence on international affairs through these organizations has been weakened and that is why Trump decides to quit international deals and organizations such as the Iran nuclear deal (officially called the JCPOA) and UNESCO.

“The U.S. failures and inability should be an opportunity and lead us to become more capable. We should want to become capable. The U.S. lack of power should lead us to strengthen our greatest wealth which is our youths,” he noted.

During his presidency, Trump quit a number of international agreements such as the Paris Climate Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership, the UN Human Rights Council, UNESCO, JCPOA. On February 1, the Trump administration also announced that the U.S. will leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.