President: Iranian Army’s Presence Contributes to Persian Gulf Security

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blasted the deployment of foreign forces in the region, and stressed that the presence of the Iranian Army in the Persian Gulf helps to the region’s security and stability.

Presence of the army in Persian Gulf region has contributed to the strategic waters’ security, Ahmadinejad said, adding that the presence of the aliens in the region has jeopardized security in the region.

He made the remarks in a ceremony in Tehran to mark the National Army Day on Thursday.

The message of Iran’s army to other independent nations is that national power emanates from the nations themselves, Ahmadinejad said.

All the need military power to safeguard independence and move on the path of progress, he underlined.

The Iranian Army displayed its latest home-made military tools, weapons and equipments in large military parades in Tehran on Thursday.

The ceremony took place at the mausoleum of the Founder of the Islamic Republic, the Late Imam Khomeini, in Southern Tehran.

During the parades, the Army units displayed different weapons and military tools and equipment, including different kinds of fighters, choppers, drones, ground-to-ground missiles, air-to-ground missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, tactical and armed vehicles, surface and underwater vessels, electronic and telecommunication equipment, light and mid-light weapons, different kinds of artillery and mortar-launchers, air defense systems and engineering and logistic equipment.

Various units of the Islamic Republic Army started military parades in Tehran and other cities across Iran on Thursday morning to mark the National Army Day.

Senior Iranian officials, including President Ahmadinejad, as well as a host of top military commanders attended the ceremony.

The Iranian army has recently test-fired different types of newly-developed missiles and torpedoes and tested a large number of home-made weapons, tools and equipments, including submarines, military ships, artillery, choppers, aircrafts, UAVs and air defense and electronic systems, during massive military drills.

Defense analysts and military observers say that Iran’s wargames and its advancements in weapons production have proved as a deterrent factor, specially at a time of heightened threats by the US.