President Hassan Rouhani says Iran's arms are always for defense of the country and of regional nations against aggression of major powers and terrorism.
'In the world today, any country wishing to make arms for the sake of self-defense is charged by the arrogant powers and their media. Our arms have always been for defense of our country and of regional nations in the face of major powers' aggression and terrorism,' said President Rouhani in an address to ceremonies marking the beginning of the Week of `Sacred Defense'.
President Rouhani said Iranian people strongly defended their honor, territorial integrity and dignity setting heroic braveries of Imam Hossein (AS), the third infallible Imam of Prophet Mohammad's (PBUH) infallible household, as their model.
'In the eight years of `Sacred Defense' (1980-88), one of the biggest motivations of Iranian people for self-sacrifice and martyrdom was a concrete example of epic in (the plain of) Karbala on (the day of) Ashura,' the President Rouhani made the remarks on the occasion of the start of the lunar mourning month of Moharram, when Imam Hossein (AS) and his 72 companions attained martyrdom in 680 AD.
The president compared the Sacred Defense (1980-88) with the wars Iran was engaged in the pre-Islamic Revolution era, including the Iran-Russia war, the Iran-Ottoman war, the World War I and World War II, which negatively affected the country and led to loss of major portion of the great land.
'The only war and sacred defense, overwhelmed by pride, epic and victory and eventually honor and did not lead to loss of even an acre of Iranian land to the aggressors, was the one whose commander-in-chief was dear Imam (the father of Islamic Revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic the late Imam Khomeini) as a supreme jurisprudent and followed by our dear people and armed forces, though all the big powers supported the aggressors. Our people single handedly and only through reliance on God Almighty, managed to gain big victories honorably through self-sacrifice and devotion by pinning hope on God.'
'Our armed forces and our defensive power have always been for consolidation of dignity and peace in the land. Our military power has never aimed aggression on a country or land. However, it has always been for the sake of self-defense and deterrence against aggressors.'
'In the world today, when a free nation wants to make its required arms for the sake of self-defense is getting subject to charges of the world arrogant powers and their media, while they (the arrogant powers) send on windfall billions of modern arms to regional states every day and any year.'
'They are the bombs resulting in homelessness and destruction of Yemen … the projects whose outcome are evident in Syria and Iraq and impede progress, construction and growth of regional nations always.'
'Our arms have always been for the sake of defense of our country and of regional nations against the big powers and terrorism. I ask those, who address Iranian people in a wrong and inappropriate way: Who hosted the refugees in the region? Haven't Iranian people hosted the oppressed people of Afghanistan for long years? Weren't those Iranian people to host refugees from their Muslim and brother country, when you invaded Afghanistan and shed blood there?'
'The day when you shed blood in Iraq, hadn't been those Iranian people to host the oppressed people of Iraq and to welcome them warmly? I do ask, did you create the terrorist groups and provide them with money and training and pit them against people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to sacrifice innocent people? Which country did give positive response to the innocent call of people in Iraq, Syria and to governments that were subject to their pressure?'
'Which country did save Baghdad and Damascus from killers and terrorists and restored relative security in the region? Do they defend those that create problems every day for people of the region and the entire world and whose honor is selling destructive arms to deprive people of freedom and peace and also those that defend the blood soaking Zionist regime which is for 70 years making aggression on regional states as a cancerous tumor?'
Iranian nation has always been defending the oppressed, added the president.
Referring to his recent visit to the UN to attend its general assembly meeting and said, 'I am very pleased to say there were only two voices confronting the world voice in the UN, where all countries of the world gathered in the organization and the general assembly this year. The US and the occupying regime of Quds were the two voices differing with the voice of the whole world. All countries in the organization supported nuclear accord and signed the path to peace and praised the solution to a regional and international problem through dialogue and logic. There were only two people being worried about peace; there were only two people who were concerned with security in the sensitive Middle East region. It was a test to show reality of rulers Washington and of the usurper rulers of Tel Aviv to the world public opinion.'
(IRNA)
