Iran's Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari emphasized the need for Tehran to cut the dependence of its economy on crude revenues.
Sorena Sattari said efforts must be made to revise Iran's toxic petrodollar spending culture by bolstering knowledge-based economy.
"The toxic culture of oil (dependence), which has imposed a misguided oil economy on our country, must be changed through knowledge-based economy," he further said.
In December, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said exports of crude is just one of Iran's sources of revenue and the country can live up without oil sales and through exports of its rich mineral resources, modern industries, and talented people.
“We have different methods and scenarios to run the country under different circumstances and we will not forget which countries are conspiring to reduce oil prices,” Larijani said during a visit to Syria.
He said that the same countries conspired against Iran in the 1980s when Iran was at war with Iraq.
“It would be a mistake if they (certain governments) imagine that they can change the strategic situation of the (Middle East) region through oil (price),” said Larijani.