The graduation ceremony of the first National Defense Course for non-Iranian students at the supreme National Defense University (SNDU)

The graduation ceremony of the first National Defense Course for non-Iranian students at the supreme National Defense University (SNDU) was held and attended by the commanders and military officials of the I.R. of Iran. In this ceremony which was held at International Faculty of SNDU, Brigadier General Dr. Nasirzadeh, the deputy chief the of the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Dr. Rahim Safavi, the senior advisor to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Brigadier General Dr. Mahmoud Sheikh Hassani, the training deputy chief of the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Dr. Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, the Chancellor of the SNDU were present.

At the beginning of this ceremony, Major General Rahim Safavi, while appreciating the good performance of the supreme National Defense University to train non-Iranian students from friendly, neighboring and Muslim countries, addressed the graduating students of this university and expressed: Within the framework of the policies of the I.R. of Iran based on creating convergence, this university follows the development of all-round relations. He added: “We consider the neighborhood policy as one of the most important principles of our foreign policy, and in this regard, we are looking for the exchange of professors and students in different sections at the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces. Referring to the large number of higher education centers in the country and also the large number of foreign students in Iran, he stated: More than 40 independent universities and research institutes are active at the level of the armed forces, and you have studied at this university as the most important one the only university at the strategic level, and have had the honor of obtaining the national defense course certificate.

In the continuation of this ceremony, Brigadier General Nasirzadeh, the deputy chief of the General headquarters of the Armed Forces, while congratulating the students on the occasion of receiving a certificate from the Supreme National Defense University, said: "Honestly, you have studied at the best university in the world, and this university is good at providing today’s science and transferring the experiences of its professors to the students. Like western countries, this university is not stingy and by choosing expert professors presents the best training courses. Referring to some traditions and verses from the Holy Quran, he emphasized the sanctity and importance of acquiring knowledge in Islam and added: “Considering the sanctity of the military uniforms in Islamic countries, the addition of science to this sanctity will strengthen and empower the armed forces of Islamic countries.” He emphasized that the authority of friendly and neighboring countries through acquiring knowledge is actually the strengthening of the Islamic Republic of Iran and other Islamic countries. The fact that our brothers are studying in our military universities is a sign of the high level of trust and relations between Islamic countries. He also added: “We are actually trying together to enhance the authority of Islamic countries.”

Referring to the importance of scientific and defense diplomacy, the Deputy Chief of the Headquarters of the Armed Forces stated: “Our goals to implement strategic courses for friendly and neighboring and Muslim countries, is to mitigate hostilities between brothers, to make defense policies transparent, to achieve common regional and transnational goals, so that we can help create common security arrangements in the region and to prevent the presence of foreigners and common enemies in the region. He also added: “Maintaining security arrangements and regional convergences by strengthening and focusing on religious, cultural and commonalities interests and threats will help our convergence, while we should abandon divergences and focus on convergences.”

In another part of this ceremony, Brigadier General Dr. Ahmadi Moghadam, the President of the Supreme National Defense University, while appreciating the academic activities of the non-Iranian students in the first National Defense Course, emphasized the continuation and cooperation and readiness of the Supreme National Defense University to attract more non-Iranian students from friendly countries. He also expressed hope that the presence of non-Iranian national defense students will improve the level of scientific diplomacy in Muslim countries.

At the beginning of this ceremony, Brigadier General Mustafa Moradian, the Dean of International faculty of the SNDU, presented a report on the performance of this faculty regarding the admission, education and courses held for non-Iranian students.

At the end of this ceremony, the students of the first National Defense Course received their diplomas.