Enhancing capabilities, top priority: Iranian Cmdr.

“The year 1396 is the time for opening new horizons and winning honors for the Iranian nation, and the armed forces, for their part, will do their best and utilize the utmost of their capabilities for these causes,” said Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Tuesday.

The General made the remarks in his address of the New Year, meeting with the commanders and the personnel of the Joint Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran after the Nowruz holidays.

“Despite round-the-clock efforts of the domineering, cross-regional, and adventurist powers and the Takfiri terrorists to destabilize our country, we had a secure and peaceful year for the Iranian nation” the Iranian commander gave an account of security issues of the last year (of Iranian calendar). “We are grateful to God Almighty that the attempts of the terrorist grouplets to infiltrate or create chaos in our country were thwarted by the wise and timely measures of the intelligence and armed forces.”

General Bagheri also touched upon the developments in Syria and said that the liberation of Aleppo as the economy capital of Syria from the 5-year-long reign of terrorists was the biggest gain of the resistance front in the last year. He described the event as a promise to return overall security to Syria.

“Enhancing the capabilities and defensive capacities of the armed forces are the serious and unchangeable strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” stressed the Iranian Major General. “In line with the defensive doctrines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, bearing in mind the historical experiences, and undertaking a realistic outlook toward the realities of the scene and the threats posed by the enemies, we will never compromise over the power of deterrence and the defensive authority of our country,” reassured the Iranian General.

Bagheri asserted that the psychological warfare of the US and its allies, along with pressures and the propaganda of them, will not affect the determination of the Iranian forces.