Stone highlighted the planned construction, beginning in 2018,
of the Iranian Light Source Facility (ILSF), which would be the
country's first synchrotron and its «biggest basic science project ever,» as «a testament to the
country's determination to do science in
spite of turmoil, political interference, and the viselike grip
of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies to block Iran's suspected effort to
develop nuclear weapons.