Iran Armed Forces biggest anti-terror force: President Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are the biggest anti-terrorism force.

“We tell the world today [that] the biggest anti-terrorism force is the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic,” President Rouhani said.

He made the remark in a Tuesday ceremony marking Shahrivar 31 (according to the Iranian calendar), the day when the regime of slain Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Iran back in 1980 and which marks the beginning of the Sacred Defense Week in Iran.

Military top brass, the military attachés of foreign countries and a number of families of the war’s martyrs and veterans were also present at the ceremony.

“Just as we have helped the governments of Syria and Iraq against terrorism, upon requests from their governments, if, heavens forbid, terrorism emerges in other neighboring countries, the governments of those countries will pin their hopes on the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” President Rouhani said.

‘War proved who had sought to invade’

Pointing to the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, President Rouhani said Iranian people displayed unprecedented unity during the eight-year war.

After the 1979 Revolution that led to the establishment of the Islamic Republic, President Rouhani said, the country was accused of being a fundamentalist system and of seeking to impose its will on its neighbors and other countries.

“In the [Iraqi-]imposed war [on Iran], it was proved who the invader was, which ideology sought to invade and meddle in the internal affairs of other countries, and who those people are who have no mercy not only on neighboring nations but also on their own people,” the president said.

Strong faith in God was a prominent feature of the Iranian soldiers and commanders, he said.

Iran did not have an intention to invade another country; it sought peace with neighbors; but, hegemonic powers convinced a neighbor to invade Iran in the hope that they could defeat the Islamic Republic, which had just emerged from a revolution, the Iranian president said.

‘Rights established’

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president referred to Iran’s recent nuclear negotiations with the P5+1, and said the unity of the people, the expertise of the Iranian diplomats and the guidance by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei led to the agreement that secured the rights of the Iranian nation.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia – plus Germany finalized the text of a nuclear agreement dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the Austrian capital of Vienna on July 14.

Under the JCPOA, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.

Military parade

Following Rouhani’s speech, various divisions of the Iranian Armed Forces staged military parades to honor the 35th anniversary of the Iran-Iraq War and showcase their latest capabilities.

‘Iran preventing collapse of Syria, Iraq’

In a Tuesday interview with Press TV, Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, hailed Iran’s support for crisis-hit countries in the region, including Syria and Iraq.

“Iran has prevented the complete collapse of Syria and Iraq despite American, Turkish, Saudi policies in this part of the world,” Marandi said.

He also censured the United States and its Western and regional allies, which “have destroyed much of the region because of their support for terrorist organizations.”

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