Iran Press/Irannews: Speaking at the armed forces’ parade ceremony, marking the beginning of the Sacred Defence Week, president Rouhani stressed: “We have learnt love from Karbala and dignity and steadfastness from Ashura”.
Rouhani added: "The Sacred Defence era will live forever, guiding us like a beacon, and this year, the ceremony was held with glory and greatness more than any other year”.
Addressing the extra-regional foreign military forces present in this region, president Rouhani pointedly said: "We’ve always been guardians of the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, the Indian Ocean, Bab-el-Mandeb straight; But what are You doing here?"
President Rouhani added: “The incident that occurred on the afternoon of 22 September 1980 was important in many ways. The first point is that Iran did not start the war and did not invade a country and did not intend to invade any country”.
Rouhani stated: "From the beginning, the message of the Islamic Revolution was peace and friendship and the fulfilment of God’s commands, brotherhood and friendship, and good neighbourliness with neighbours”.
“The reason that the people unitedly sacrificed their lives in Sacred Defence, was that they had no doubt that Iran did not start the war and it was others who invaded our land, our independence and territorial integrity, and we only defended ourselves to against aggressors,” added the President.
"The Iranian nation has been a nation that has defended its rights and has not intended to invade any country, and that was the reason why it was able to endure all the ups and downs of the 8-year war with unity, faith and hope," the president continued.
He went on to say: “The war that was imposed on us was not a common one, and many war crimes against our armed forces and people happened. On the very first day of the war, Iraq poured missiles and bullets on the defenceless people of our residential areas”.
“During the war, Iraq used chemical weapons against international regulations against the defenceless people of Sardasht, and even its own city, Halabja”.
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran also pointed out that, despite all the war crimes and the acts of aggression by Saddam Hussein, no power and international organisation stood up against this aggression, saying: "This is a great lesson for us, the 8-year history of the Sacred Defence is not a past history, but a model for our future and it will stay alive and remain alive forever”.
He continued: “The 8-year war taught us that we have to stand on our own feet on hard days and be united and ready to sacrifice ourselves under the command of the Supreme Leader”.
“Today 38 after Saddam’s aggression and violation of the 1975 Agreement, this has happened again, and the same government that encouraged governments to go to the negotiation table and took the negotiation parties’ time for a single sentence for 17 days straight, bowing to the logic of our diplomats after 12 years and signing an agreement that was beneficial for all countries, region and the world, has started another war and violated another international agreement that was approved by UNSC through a man who does not respect any international law and regulation”.
The president said: “Today, the previous war is repeated. That day, it was one of the servants of the United States who was before the Iranian nation and all powers were supporting them, but today it is no longer a proxy war, and the United States is directly before the Iranian nation, and it has begun to violate agreements and withdraw from the deal”.
Rouhani emphasised: "The Iranian nation disappointed America in the first phase and, as in the early days of the war, the resistance of our warriors disappointed Saddam, this time the people disappointed the enemy again”.
“The very same thing will happen to Trump, and what happened to Saddam, will happen to America and Trump. We are not the one who started the war, as we were not begin the war in 1980,” said Rouhani.
The President also said: “A lot of conspiracies happened in 2016 and 2017 in which they wanted to impose sanctions on us and make us angry enough to exit the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but the Islamic Republic of Iran exercised calmness and prudence to foil the plot”.
“In the second phase, Trump thought that if he withdraws from JCPOA, Iran would do the same an hour later, so that he could take Iran’s case to the Security Council and convict us,” he added.
Rouhani said: “In the third phase, Trump wanted to have its allies with him so that they would withdraw from the deal, but except for two hateful regimes in the region, no government and nation supported him”.
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“Today, around the world, political, legal and moral victory is for the Iranian nation and we have filed complaints against the Us in international organisations and the ICJ and the US is angry about this. We have respected our covenant and international regulations and the Security Council”,Rohani also said.
He continued: “Today, the enemy cannot achieve its goals and we won’t let Americans to bring our nation to its knee. Without a doubt, they will create some problems for our people but we are able to overcome this”.
Stating that history will judge in the coming month that who is the loser of this political, psychological and economic war that the United States has started, the President said: “Iran will not only not abandon its defensive weapons and missiles, but also increase its defensive power every day”.
Addressing the enemies of the Iranian nation, the President said: “You are saying that we must not be present in our own region, but the question is that what are YOU doing in this region from thousands of kilometres away”.
“We’ve always been guardians of the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman, the Indian Ocean, and Bab-el-Mandeb,” he said, adding: “Today, the great people of Iran have a place in the hearts of people of Iraq, Syria and Yemen, but where are our enemies? They have given bombs to two countries for them to pour them on peoples of the region and the oppressed, poor people of Yemen”.
“Of course Iran is a great, effective country in the region and does not stay silent against the innocence and oppression of the peoples of the region,” he continued.
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