Iran Vice President at Closing Ceremony
Prof. Hossein Afshin, the Iran Vice President for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy, participated in the closing ceremony of the Rayan 2025 World Finals.
Here is Prof. Afshin’s speech:
Ladies and gentlemen, young friends, and builders of the future,
In today’s world, competition is no longer a battle of muscles; it is a battle of brains. It is between those who see sooner.
For years, I have repeated a metaphor: in nature, both the lion and the gazelle wake up in the morning; but neither the strongest remains nor the fastest–rather, the one who sees sooner survives. The Rayan competition is the precise image of this truth.
Today, in this hall, we see the gathering of representatives of 30,000 participants from 137 countries of the world; 30,000 minds from Europe and Asia, from Africa and the Americas to Oceania, who have competed in a single arena. An arena that knows neither borders nor coastlines; an arena that has only one rule: problem-solving.
Rayan is more than a competition; it is a message. A message from Iran that says we are not spectators of this global competition, but its hosts.
This competition, which began last year with the support of the Vice Presidency for Science and was hosted by Sharif University of Technology, was born with a simple goal but continued with a great ideal: training a generation that can elevate Iran at the very moment the world rises.
In Rayan, we do not just teach programming; we teach algorithmic thinking. We build problem-solving skills, we form team spirit, we create job opportunities, and we open paths so that the young Iranian steps not towards the exit, but towards building their country.
In a world where industries, daily life, security, economy, and progress all revolve around Artificial Intelligence, a competition like Rayan is not merely a contest; rather, it is a laboratory for the future. A future where the problems are real—problems from industry, logistics, medicine, agriculture, energy, and from the same complex world that humanity lives in today.
Rayan showed us that if we provide the arena, talents from all over the world will find their way to Iran. And if we present real problems, the young Iranian mind shines just as bright as its competitors, and sometimes even beyond them. The young people present in this hall today know that in the age of algorithms, in the age of data, and in the age of Large Language Models, the future belongs to the one who sees sooner.
But seeing is not just with the eyes; it is with understanding, with building, and with becoming someone the world cannot ignore.
That’s exactly why Rayan is important: because it transforms us from consumers of global knowledge into producers of global skill. Today, countries from five continents participated in a competition that began in Tehran.
This is the very moment a nation can stand, look, and say: We have entered the game, and not only have we entered, but we have become the host, and Iran has moved step by step closer to scientific authority in the world.
Dear friends,
Artificial Intelligence is not just a technology; it is a new and common language. A language in which the future of the economy, politics, industry, and even human existence is being written. And if we want to play a role in the world’s future, we must be creative, expert and pioneering in this language.
Today, Rayan is not just a competition; it is a national investment. An investment to keep talents in the country, to find stars who might have been on the path to migration, but today, through a competition of global standards, felt that it is possible to stay in Iran, to compete, to learn, and to build.
In conclusion, allow me to return to the opening metaphor. In nature, the lion and the gazelle both wake up, but the one who sees sooner is the winner.
Today, you young Iranians and the international contestants present in this hall proved to us that in the new era, the winner is neither the strongest nor the biggest; the winner is the one who understands sooner and builds sooner.
Allow me to sincerely thank all those who made this path possible: Dr. Firouzabadi, the former Vice President for Science, who initiated this journey; the judges and problem designers; the technical and executive teams; the professors and researchers who worked tirelessly to ensure the scientific standards of the contest; the supporters and organizations backing this event; the thousands of participants whose energy and enthusiasm gave spirit to Rayan; and Sharif University of Technology for its outstanding organization of this global competition.
Thank you for being here. I hope the path of “seeing,” which began today, turns into a path of “building” in your minds and in your lives.
