TEHRAN – Iran’s Defense Minister, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, has criticized the United States and its allies for sowing discord and division among nations.

The defense minister said the U.S. leads the arrogance system and its proxies such as Israel as the archenemies of the Islamic Republic, Tasnim news reported.

He made the remarks in a meeting with a group of Defense Ministry officials on Saturday.

The U.S. and its cohorts proved amid the recent conflicts in the region that they seek to exercise unilateralism, impose their will on nations, create divisions, and inflame wars among countries, as they feel no compunction about killing innocent people, the Iranian minister added.

He went on to say that the Iranian Defense Ministry’s main purposes in countering the threats are to generate power and boost the country’s deterrent capabilities.

“Accordingly, plans are on agenda for the promotion of purposeful relations with the neighbors, interaction and multilateralism, attention to the economy-oriented foreign policy, as well as maintaining and strengthening the resistance front,” the defense minister noted.

The general called on the Defense Ministry officials to focus efforts on enhancing various dimensions of defense power by upgrading the technical and hardware capabilities, monitoring the threats and international developments, and acquiring advanced technologies.