Iranian Armed Forces Region’s Top Anti-Terror Power: President

"Today, the region’s greatest power against terror and intimidation is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Force,” President Rouhani said in an address before a huge military parade in Tehran on Tuesday, held to commemorate start of the Sacred Defense Week.

He also assured the neighboring countries that Iran is fully prepared to help the regional nations counter the threat of terrorism.

Rouhani asserted that the regional countries can pin their hope on the Iranian Armed Force if invaded by the terrorists, stressing that Iran will rush to assist them in the same way that it helped "the Iraqi and Syrian armies and governments in the fight against terrorism at the request of their own governments.”

Without directly naming any Arab country in the Middle East, President Rouhani said certain states should set aside the mistaken notion that "big powers and the West defend them.”

"If the countries that are illegitimately oppressing their neighbors today are attacked by the terrorist groups later, and if they (terrorists) intend to topple those governments, the Armed Forces that are capable of fighting them (terrorists) off at the request of their (victims’) nations, will be the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces.”

His comments came amid growing concerns in the Middle East in the wake of terrorist activities and the tense situation in Yemen, caused by a Saudi-led military campaign’s daily airstrikes.

Following the president’s speech, different units representing the Army, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the Law Enforcement (police), and the Defense Ministry took part in parades at the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, south of the city.

In Iran, the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war is known as the Sacred Defense, and the Sacred Defense Week is held on the anniversary of the beginning of the war.

The Sacred Defense Week begins on Shahrivar 31 in the Iranian calendar (September 22 this year), which is the day Iraq invaded Iran and began the imposed war on the country in 1980.