TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani on Monday said all bodies, including the Guardian Council and the Interior Ministry, should help to have a “more capable and stronger” parliament in the February elections.

Rouhani called on people to complete the “epic” of the 2013 presidential elections which he won by a landslide in the 2016 February parliamentary elections.

The president said it does not matter the person finding a seat in the parliament is from “this faction or that faction”, adding that the most important point is that he should care about “national interests” rather than preferring “factional interests over personal interests”.

The president made the remarks in a speech to commemorate the Student Day at the Sharif University of Technology.

Student Day is the anniversary of the murder of three students of the University of Tehran on December 7, 1953 (16 Azar 1332 in the Iranian calendar) by Iranian police in the Pahlavi era.

Student Day is a historic day for the Iranian people, the president said, noting it marks “independence-seeking, freedom-seeking and resistance of students and intellectuals against colonialism and hegemony”.

Student Day is not restricted to certain juncture of time, the president remarked.

He also said that university is the best place to judge the performance of the ruling system yet criticism should be “moderate”.

Elsewhere, Rouhani said that his view on the Guardian Council is the same as stated in the Constitution which is just monitoring elections.

“My view toward the Guardian Council is that of the Constitution. The Constitution sees the Guardian Council as supervisor and we also consider it as supervisor.”

He also said, “We should stand up to others and rely on our national capability. We should solve the country’s problems by domestic capacities to the extent it is possible, but does it mean that we should not talk with the world? And if we have a problem with the world, should we go to verge of a war?”

Rouhani also said that university settings should be calm, noting his government does not seek “security” in universities.

He attached great importance to freedom in universities, saying scientific advances and cultural developments will not be achieved without freedom.

He urged the students to use the opportunities created after clinching the nuclear deal to interact with the world in the field of science.

Iran and the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany) reached a nuclear deal in Vienna on July 14 over Tehran’s nuclear program.

President Rouhani went on to say that critics argue that his government is just focusing on diplomacy and oblivious of local potentials especially in defense industries.

“Some think that the 11th government is just the government of smile, logic, and dialogue with the world” and is lagging behind previous governments in “building arms” and reinforcing the country’s “defense power”, the president noted.

For example he said immediately after the conclusion of nuclear deal with great powers Iran tested its most advanced missile.

Rouhani said his government has succeeded in advancing strategic weapons in two years of his presidency more than the past 10 years.

He said when his government sits for dialogue with other countries it does not mean that it will not beef up defense capability or that it should never think of a war.

“We should always be ready.”


NA/PA