|
Ahmadinejad Hails Iran 's Military Power
TEHRAN, April 17--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday proclaimed Iran was the "most powerful nation" in the world as the country's air force boasted its prowess.
Ahmadinejad told a military parade outside Tehran marking the Islamic Republic's annual Army Day: " Iran is the most powerful and independent nation in the world."
The Iranian president said all the
branches of the armed forces would react forcefully in response to any attack against Iran 's soil and stressed that no-one would dare to launch a strike on the country.
Ahmadinejad said: "The army, the
Revolutionary Guards and the Basij (militia) will resist with force and coordination and respond strongly to the slightest aggression."
To mark the occasion, the armed forces were conducting a major fly-by over the
parade ground which was to include around 200 of its fighter jets and other aircraft in a bid to show the power of its air force.
Among the aircraft on display were US-made F4 and F-5 fighter jets and several Saegheh
fighter jets which is a entirely home-produced model.
Iran 's air force has defied hard the blanket US embargo imposed after the toppling of Iran 's pro-American shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran is at odds with the West over its nuclear program and has stressed steadfastly it needs the nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including power generation for a growing population whose fossil fuel would
eventually run out.
The Islamic Republic has defied three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to abandon uranium enrichment program, saying it is entitled to the atomic work as a signatory to the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Ahmadinejad described Iran as "peace-loving" but said the army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps would "react strongly to the slightest aggression"
against its soil.
He said: "I am proud to announce today that the Iranian nation's power is of an extent that no major power can dare jeopardize the security and interests of the Iranian nation."
"The Iranian nation with its courageous army will defend its interests with all strength," he said.
Iran has in recent weeks been engaged in an intensifying war of words with the Israeli occupying regime after
an Israeli minister warned Iran would be destroyed if it launched an attack against the Jewish state.
"If Israel takes such action against the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will eliminate it from the global
arena," Iranian deputy army commander Mohammad Reza Ashtiani riposted Tuesday.
|
