President Hassan Rouhani said Tue. that history has taught Iran to grow stronger and insist on pursuing its goals, otherwise other countries would try to bring Iran to its knees. The Iranian president made the remarks in a ceremony marking the National Day of Defense Industry. The event also featured the unveiling of the latest […]
President Hassan Rouhani said Tue. that history has taught Iran to grow stronger and insist on pursuing its goals, otherwise other countries would try to bring Iran to its knees.
The Iranian president made the remarks in a ceremony marking the National Day of Defense Industry. The event also featured the unveiling of the latest achievements in the defense sector, including the first homegrown fighter/trainer jet ‘Kosar’ which underwent its successful flight-tests today in the presence of President Rouhani.
“The past 40 years is a testament to the fact that we have not attacked any country, and if we really wanted to, we had some exceptional military-wise opportunities to take advantage of, but we didn’t do such a thing,” said President Rouhani, noting the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the unstable state of Iran’s northern borders, or Iraq’s weakened state during Saddam’s attack on Kuwait.
“When Saddam attacked Kuwait and Iraq was almost under a global blockade, it was a critical situation that we could apparently use to our advantage and take down Iraq, but we let the opportunity go,” said Rouhani, stressing that Iran’s military strategy is not offensive, even when faced with a country that had previously waged an eight-year war against Iran.
He went on to add, “Iranians have always sought to have peaceful coexistence and interaction with other countries. In the recent years that terrorism had spread through the region, although it was not apparently a threat to Iran, but the Islamic Republic voluntarily rushed to assist the people of the region and had a major role in ridding the region of terrorists’ presence.”
We are ready not for war, but for creating and preserving lasting peace, Rouhani stressed, adding that lack of preparedness means welcoming war; “if we fail to boost our deterrence, it’s as good as giving the enemies the green light to invade our country,” he added.
