TEHRAN - Ali Akbar Salehi, vice president and director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said on Wednesday that it is officials’ duty to stand against oppressor.

“Based on our country’s constitution, we are duty bound to stand against oppressor and defend the oppressed and this is valuable in essence,” he said in opening ceremony of knowledge-based corporations’ exhibition.

However, he said that Iran should pay the cost to protect its independence and freedom.

“If we have faced impediments on the path of the country’s growth and progress, it is because of limitations which have been created due to the Islamic Republic’s political and international approach,” the vice president remarked.

He added, “Despite the limitations that have been imposed on us, we have worked well.”

Salehi, a nuclear physicist, noted that human and financial capital and management are essential to progress.

“We have good human and financial capital…We should be thankful for the current situation in the country,” noted Salehi who has acted as Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), foreign minister, and representatives to the Jeddah-based Islamic Cooperation Organization (OIC).

Salehi praised support by governmental institutions for knowledge-based corporations.

He also urged the knowledge-based corporations to make more efforts in improving marketing.

NA/PA