St. Petersburg mining experts presented their vision for the development of artificial intelligence in both countries in Iran.
Only ten days after the signing of the Interstate Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran, a distinguished group of scientists from the university in Russia’s northern capital traveled to Tehran to participate in the international conference "Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Civilization".
The treaty signed on January 17 by Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian includes Article 30, which focuses on cooperation in science and education. This cooperation is built upon the foundation of productive engagements between Russian universities and their Iranian counterparts.
In particular, St. Petersburg Mining University actively collaborates with five higher education institutions in Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan, as well as with several oil research institutes and the Islamic Citation Center for Science. The partnership includes student and postgraduate exchanges, as well as joint research groups.
The large-scale event, which brought together 1,500 participants, was organized by Imam Hossein University. This institution operates in two complementary fields: training officers for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and engineering research for the country’s infrastructure.Many of its developments are related to the defense industry, which, as in Russia, serves as an innovation driver in Iran. Naturally, this also extends to AI research and its applications.
Welcoming the guests via video link, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei addressed the audience with a message:
«Artificial intelligence today is the same as nuclear energy. If the United States succeeds in imposing restrictive mechanisms on our AI developments, we will face the same situation as with our nuclear program. Our task is to implement a national strategy for the development of this field so that no hostile country can hinder us in the future».
The university’s rector, Professor Mohammad Reza Hasani Ahangar, stated in his speech:
«Artificial intelligence is the new geometry of achieving global leadership for Western countries—neocolonialism. If they win this race, the world will once again move away from multi-vector development. This is unacceptable for Iran. One of the main challenges is the shortage of qualified personnel. The country lacks enough skilled specialists, so we see our primary task in educating and training young people».
Former President of the Islamic Republic Mohammad Mokhber put forward the thesis of the constant evolution of power structures. According to the advisor to the Supreme Leader, the only constant for the very existence of society is science and human resources.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Lieutenant General Hossein Salami, emphasized in his speech:
«The world will not achieve justice until there is a balance of power. There is no place for the weak in the modern world. If we are weak in intellectual technologies, we will disappear from the face of the Earth. In the military, we widely use AI in drones, missiles, air defense, and especially at sea. We are developing intelligent control with the mandatory principle of unified command over all systems. This is a crucial principle in combat operations».
He specifically addressed the Russian delegation, saying that he was very pleased to see representatives of the country with which Iran had just signed a strategic agreement among the numerous guests.
Marat Rudakov, Vice-Rector for Special Programs at Empress Catherine II St. Petersburg Mining University, delivered a report on a new personnel training system:
«One of the key challenges in the field of artificial intelligence today is training both AI developers and AI users—specialists with a broad scientific outlook, competencies, and social skills—who can ensure the widespread implementation of AI technologies for the sovereign development of the country."
"That is why the goal of the university's ongoing reform is to change the ideology of perceiving the world. We must detach young people from passive digital dependence and inspire them with a desire to reshape the world. And this is only possible through analog thinking. We are obliged to cultivate a thinking generation of intellectual creators rather than lazy users. To achieve this, our university is reviving the mentorship institute, and students are mastering a significant number of additional competencies alongside their primary discipline».
Without exaggeration, the Russian professor became the highlight of the day for Persian and Arab television networks.
He set a record among interviewees by giving eleven interviews to the region's most prestigious media outlets. The main topics that intrigued journalists were the mechanism of the reform, the role of industry partnerships, and the methodology of reshaping mindsets.
During a personal meeting with the rector of Imam Hossein University, specific joint steps for implementing the Russia-Iran Agreement were discussed. Based on this discussion, the framework for a comprehensive five-year "roadmap" for cooperation was adjusted. This roadmap will include key initiatives such as the preparation of joint publications by young researchers, the organization of international forums in the field of mineral resources, the creation of competence centers in digitalization and mining, and projects in the field of AI.
According to the International IQ Registry, Iran ranks second in the world in collective intelligence, with a score of 106.63 points, just behind China. Russia ranks sixth, while the United States is in seventeenth place. The IQ coefficient reflects the level of societal development and depends on many factors, with education being the primary one.
This sensational result for the so-called developed countries is easily explained – under unprecedented sanctions, the country has had to "flex its mental muscles" to create independent innovative products. The foundation of this success has been a strong focus on schools, university science, and a well-structured system of business platforms and startups.
The Islamic Republic has been rapidly ascending in the global ranking of "thinking" countries since the beginning of the 21st century. Russia has also been making gradual progress, but compared to the early 2000s—when higher education had not yet been distorted by the Bologna system and secondary education was not crippled by a lack of funding—it represents a regression. In the 2000s, "on the remnants of the old foundation," Russia consistently ranked among the top three. As for China, its success is largely due to the fact that all of its educational models were built following the framework of its "northern big brother." Notably, China's university-level engineering and technical education currently lasts seven years.
After the opening ceremony, delegates from Malaysia, Iraq, Britain, China, and Russia engaged in panel discussions.
Associate Professor of the Department of Automation of Technological Processes and Production, Natalia Koteleva, presented a series of AI-based solutions aimed at improving the efficiency of industrial equipment maintenance and repair.
One such solution involves constructing a diagnostic curve for assessing the condition of an electric motor. This curve serves as an excellent tool for quickly creating an accurate diagnostic system using frameworks (predefined models/templates). When combined with an automated machine learning framework, the diagnostic curve not only identifies malfunctions but also determines the type of defect. The automated framework simplifies the creation of the system and, most importantly, allows for rapid adaptation of algorithms to new operating conditions. The curve can be displayed to maintenance personnel through augmented reality glasses, a tablet, or any other visualization device.
«Another development from the Mining University is a system for monitoring personnel actions during maintenance and repair operations. Physically, it consists of a video camera and a specially designed wearable device—the ‘smart glove.’ The glove contains tactile sensors located under the fingertips, which detect the pressure exerted by the fingers when touching any surface. Artificial intelligence algorithms interpret the collected data, correlating the recorded touch points with specific repair stages and actions being performed. This allows the system to recreate the sequence of the repair process or identify and correct mistakes made by personnel during maintenance or repairs» - stated Natalia Koteleva in her presentation.
Graduate student Pavel Suslikov presented his research on optimizing energy supply across the entire mineral resource extraction chain—from geological exploration to resource consumption.
«I focus on applying decomposition methods for time series of electricity consumption to ultimately build a decision-support system for managing energy demand. In simple terms, using mathematical tools, I break down a standard power consumption graph into several hundred components. Then, using machine learning methods, I group these components into clusters representing periodic patterns, or in other words, consumer behavior traits in electricity usage. The insights into consumption habits and characteristics will then be used to develop a decision-support system for demand-side management—essentially, an algorithm that automates the electricity supply process and significantly improves energy efficiency» - explained Pavel Suslikov.
At the core of the concept of Artificial Intelligence lies analog thinking. A computer program collects vast amounts of data, analyzes it, and generates the optimal course of action. For the average user, this represents a "parasitic convenience," requiring nothing more than the ability to operate a touchscreen phone. However, our countries need creative users who can formulate tasks for machines within their fields of expertise—individuals raised within the same coordinate system who can then correctly interpret the results. Ideally, we need designers capable of embedding strategic paradigms into hardware.
In fact, this is the essence of the modernization of higher engineering education currently underway at the Mining University. The goal is not to produce passive consumers but engineer-researchers who can both manage AI and write programs for autonomous dump trucks—not underqualified bachelor's graduates, but fully-fledged specialists with a broad spectrum of competencies. Such professionals should be able, for example, to use sensor data to assess the profitability of mining rare earth metals at "ultra-deep" depths in Komi and Antarctica.
In Tehran, this approach to education is fully embraced.
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