TEHRAN – Iran on Thursday launched the “Rising of the Wise against Sophicide” conference to denounce a campaign of targeted killings of scientists by the United States and Israel.
Muhammad-Javad Larijani, head of Iran’s Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences and chairman of the conference, said the event aims to raise global awareness about threats to scientists in Iran and beyond.
“This conference was organized quickly to address the ongoing situation related to science and knowledge,” Larijani said in opening remarks. “We are confronted with a new phenomenon called scientific terrorism.”
Larijani referenced a recent 12-day war between Iran, Israel, and the United States, during which Iranian nuclear scientists and military personnel were assassinated. He said Washington and Tel Aviv openly carried out the assassinations, marking a shift from previous covert operations.
“The regimes based in Washington and Tel Aviv have revealed a new approach — that if they dislike a scientist, they can assassinate them by any means,” he said.
Larijani said Western countries are trying to monopolize scientific knowledge to maintain global dominance, viewing Iran’s scientific progress as a threat.
“They seek to monopolize science and believe that scientific knowledge is not suitable for certain nations,” Larijani said.
The conference also highlighted the use of advanced technology and private data to carry out assassinations, calling this a new form of “intellectual extermination.”
Larijani urged the global scientific community to unite against these threats and called for building a secure, sovereign technological ecosystem free from superpower monopolies. 
He emphasized the need for ongoing international collaboration, academic engagement, and political support to counteract what he described as a tyrannical system suppressing scientific progress worldwide.