Iran: Rouhani asks regional powers to unite against US

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has asked all the countries of the region to get together against the United States of America during his address on the occasion of Army Day parade in Tehran. Rouhani also told that they should get together to push back Zionism from the region stating that it is the nexus of the US with Israel which is the primary cause of all problems in the region. He said that the armed forces of his country were not a threat to any other country of the region.

Rouhani said, “The region’s nations have lived alongside each other for centuries and never had a problem…If there is a problem,it is caused by others. If we have a problem in the region today, its roots are either with Zionism or America’s arrogance”.

He was surrounded by the top generals of his military and he clearly gave a message to his neighbouring nations that his army is not against them or their national interests but instead stand strong against all forms of aggression. He asked them to come together and save the region from the influence of the aggressor. Soldiers marched past his podium while many locally made fighter jets also took part in the air display for the first time. Iran also showed its missiles, submarines, radars, electronic systems of warfare, armoured vehicles etc. Another notable weaponry on display was the Russian S-300 missile defence system.

The armed forces of Iran were very powerful than many other regional powers. This is significant in the wake of growing tensions with the US. Rouhani said, “We seek regional security and stability, countries’ sovereignty and end of terrorism and their activities in this region”.

The Iranian Republic has basically two kinds of armies, one that works as a national defensive force, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which were created in 1979 Revolution for protection of the Islamic nation against both the internal and external adversaries. The US has recently designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation. The move has been severely condemned by Iran and has also led to concerns about the security of the reciprocal attacks on US forces. Iran has called the US action as an insult to the military of Iran and the whole nation at large.