TEHRAN –President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that Iran’s defense program is like many other countries in the world and no one has the right to object it.

“We have international regulations (about a country’s sovereign right for defense) and it is also mentioned in the constitution that our military power should be deterrent and we do not seek anything else,” he said during his speech at a ceremony held to commemorate the memory of Ayatollah Seyyed Mustafa Khomeini, the son of Imam Khomeini.

“We conduct effective defense in the rainy day and no one can talk about our country’s military power which is based on the constitution and defense doctrine,” stated Rouhani who led Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for 1989 to 2005.

Rouhani also said, “We ask you: When our people were under artillery and bombardment of the enemy missiles, did you give us weapons of air defense, let alone offensive weapons? At that time, we sent a Europe-made anti-aircraft gun, which it was committed to repair, but they didn’t, and they did not even gave it back to us, saying that you are in war and we cannot do it. Now they want to talk with us about weapons.”

With the attempt to undermine the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement, the Trump administration has created a commotion over Iran’s conventional ballistic missile program.

Iran has been repeatedly saying that its missile program is purely defensive. 

During Iraq’s war against Iran in the 1980s, when Saddam Hussein was ruling Baghdad, Iranian cities were showered with missiles. However, Iran was not allowed to buy weapons to defend itself.

In an article published in the Atlantic on October 9 Iranian foreign minister defensed Iran’s missile program. He said, “It is in this atmosphere—and mindful of our 20th-century experience with a neighbor that waged an eight-year war against our people while virtually the entire world took the side of the aggressor—that we endeavor to have a working defensive capability. It is because of the hostility shown to us since the Islamic Revolution, from within our own region and from the West, and because of the West’s refusal to sell us any defensive weaponry that might deter a future Saddam, that we have developed an indigenous capability.” 

‘Bright future’

Rouhani also noted that a “bright future” awaits Iran.

“Today is not a day to say something that weakens the people’s hope on the future. We will have a bright future. We have taken right steps in the region and also in the nuclear issue,” he said.

Referring to comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump on putting pressure on Iranians without any help from Europe, Rouhani said that Trump’s language proves the fact that Iran is on the “right path”.

In an interview with Fox News published on Sunday, Trump said that the U.S. is capable of putting pressure on Iranians on its own.

“I told them [the EU]: ‘Just keep making money. Don’t worry about it. We don’t need you on this.”

‘Unity is essential’

Rouhani said that it is essential to set hope on the future and maintain unity.

“Unity and hope on the future is essential for us and we can easily face the problems and pass them all,” he said.

He also said, “Today, greatness of Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region is more than ever. Can anyone take any action in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, North Africa and the Persian Gulf without considering Iran’s viewpoint? This is due to the nation’s awareness and unity, and vigilance of the Leader [of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei].”

He added, “Do you remember any time when the U.S. president say something and the whole world stand against it? ... So, we should protect the trust between the people and the sovereignty…”

NA/PA