Iran should continue to boost its defensive capabilities: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Seyyed Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a political commentator in Tehran, to discuss the significance of the recent nationwide parades by different units from Iran’s Armed Forces on the occasion of the National Army Day, which this year falls on April 17.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Khoshcheshm, welcome to the program. Let’s start off with your opinion on the significance of the military parades that took place today. What does National Army Day mean for the Islamic Republic?

Khoshcheshm: In the name of God. Hello and thank you very much for inviting me. Well, you know when you are living in a country that is rich, very rich, and strategically-located and when your country owns the largest world’s reserves, combined energy reserves, and when you are living in a country that if you move to the east or west, the next immediate country is at war with someone, when you are living in a region where war and turmoil are prevalent everywhere coast to coast from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and when you are living in a world where the worst number one rogue state, Israel, is threatening  you and has been threatening for the last three or four decades, then you have to grow your defensive power to the maximum levels that you can. When you are living in a world where after a decade you reach a deal with the world powers, but still the United Stated president says “all options are still on the table”, a worn-out catch phrase, indicating that they can still use force against you.

And when all presidential hopefuls in the United States say that their first action on day number one of office if they are elected there is tearing apart the nuclear deal with Iran and exercising force against Iran, and when your rival in the region, a few days ago, a former crown prince of your rival in the region said that “we have been arming terrorist groups in Southeastern for the last few years” and Kuwait, the same former crown prince of Saudi Arabia said just a few days ago in an interview with a Kuwaiti paper, that Kuwait has also been financing separatist groups in southwestern Iran. Under such situation when especially you are leading a stream called the resistance front and when all your allies like Syria, Hezbollah, Iraq have come under attack, you have to grow powerful and you have to develop your defensive capabilities for the rainy days.

Press TV: Iran has time and again stated that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence with that it also encompasses the Iranian missile defense program. You mentioned the United States and how it has put Iran’s missile defense program under the spotlight now. I’d like you elaborate more on that issue. Many are saying the United States is just bringing up another excuse to put pressure on the Islamic Republic.

Khoshcheshm: That is true. Remember that 75 percent of Iran’s missile defense program is only of defensive purposes like the high-profile S-300 missile defense shield. Remember that it is now rather old because there is S-400 right now on a mission in Syria; we also have S-500 deployed in the Caucasus Mountains and Chinese [are] talking to Russia in order to buy several of these S-500 systems. But they are good enough in order to not allow any invading and hostile airplane especially warplanes from Israel to pose a threat to Iran. But of course the critics say that some of Iranian missiles like Emad, like Shahab, Sejil, maybe not more than 20 [or] 30 percent of them, could also be used for offensive purposes.

Remember that deterrence means; it just does not mean that you should have only defensive tools and weapon systems. You should also grow your offensive capabilities in order to show that if you are struck at home, you can also strike back. So Iran is developing these long-range missiles, only which are very few in nature I mean in type, only to develop its deterrence power; otherwise, Iran has stressed repeatedly; like today President Rouhani said that Iran has always been good with its neighbors and it is ready to rush to their aid if they ever come under attack like what happened in Syria and Iraq. And this is not just what President Rouhani said. Remember all Iranian leaders, presidents have always, with whatever tones they have had and political tendencies they have been pursuing, said the same thing like Mr. Ahmadinejad, Mr. Khatami, Hashemi; they have all said the same thing that we are not at all mean to initiate a war with any country especially the regional countries. 

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