REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TEHRAN -- Iran will not hesitate to defend itself against military threats posed by enemies, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday, according to Iran's Student News Agency.
Khamenei made the remarks referring to the West's rhetoric of military options against Iran if it fails to clinch a nuclear deal with world powers.
"The Islamic republic proved that it can powerfully defend itself. The entire nation will unite and resist the enemy," Khamenei was quoted as saying by the semi-official Iran's Student News Agency (ISNA).
"They have created the myth of nuclear weapons to imply that Iran is a threat," he said, adding that "the threat is the United States which has endangered regional security through its relentless interventions."
The world is witnessing the catastrophe in Yemen and the United States is supporting the oppressors, he said while addressing a group of Iranian military commanders.
Khamenei deemed the logic of "military options against Iran" as "simply a bluff," and slammed as "stupid" calls for a halt to Iran' s defense development, according to Tasnim news agency.
What makes Iran's military development an "extraordinary job" is that it was achieved under pressure and unprecedented sanctions, the Iranian leader said, pointing out the need for continued and "accelerated" development of that progress.
Khamenei said despite the upgrade in Iran's military power, the country "will never pose a threat to regional and neighboring countries."
Also, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, said that the repeated rhetoric of "military option is on the table (by the United States ) does not concern us, and our propositions are based on an all-out war with the United States."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a ceremony marking Iran's Army Day that Iran's "substantial military power" is for deterrence purposes and is not a threat to its neighbors nor the Middle East region.
On the contrary, Iran's army aims to help establish "peace and security" in the war-torn region, Rouhani said.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika