In an address during a National Army Day parade on Sunday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani praised Iran’s role in helping Syria and Iraq, saying “if tomorrow your capitals face danger from terrorism or Zionism, the power that will give you a positive answer is the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Iran’s president has vowed to defend Muslim countries against “terrorism Zionism.”
Speaking during a National Army Day parade on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani praised Iran’s role in helping the Syrian and Iraqi governments roll back the Islamic State (ISIS) group, saying “if tomorrow your capitals face danger from terrorism or Zionism, the power that will give you a positive answer is the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
In the speech, broadcast live by state TV, he emphasized that Iran’s military power was for defensive and deterrent purposes, and should not be seen as a threat to its neighbors, a reoccurring theme in Iranian rhetoric.
He appeared to be referring to Gulf Arab states, which have long viewed Iran as seeking to dominate the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran back opposite sides in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars.
“The Iranian Army is the army of Islam, Islamic system and the whole Iranian nation,” said Rouhani.
In related news, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s (IRGC) Quds Force Qassem Soleimani traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high ranking officials, in defiance of a United Nations (UN) ban forbidding him from international travel, Fox News reported, citing multiple intelligence sources.
This would be Soleimani’s second trip to Moscow since July, days after the signing of the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.
Soleimani reportedly plans to stay in Moscow for 48 hours.
This week, Russia sent its first component of the advanced S-300 air defense system to Tehran, a delivery planned during Soleimani’s last trip to Moscow, and Iran displayed the first S-300 systems, without displaying the missiles, during the Sundat parade.
Russia is due to deliver several more S-300 missile shields to Iran by the end of this year.
By: AP and United with Israel Staff
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