Roundup: Iran stages military parade, vows to enhance deterrent power

Iranians on Wednesday staged nationwide military parade that showcased the country's military achievements, with the Iranian military commanders vowing to enhance the deterrent power of the country.

Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, said that Iran has established comprehensive defensive strategies to counter all threats and there will be no delay in Iran's military tests and war exercises, reported Tasnim news agency.

The Iranian commander said that certain regional countries, supported by the United States and Israel, seek to destabilize Iran and the region, but the Iranian Armed Forces enjoy powerful defense capabilities against any potential surprise attack.

He made the remarks in the ceremonies held to mark the 36th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war.

The Iran-Iraq war, which broke out in September 1980 and lasted through August 1988, incurred tremendous loss of lives and economic damage to both countries.

Half a million Iraqi and Iranian soldiers and civilians are believed to have died during the war, with many more injured.

The Iranian officials have blamed the West, particularly the United States, for supporting Saddam Hussein, then the ruler of Iraq, for attacking the Islamic republic.

Iran said that the United States and its allies supported "no decision" at UN on Iraq's use of chemical weapons in Iran-Iraq war in 1984.

Instead, the United States directly attacked Iran by hitting Iran's oil platforms in 1987 while Iran was engaged in war with Iraq, they said.

The United States also shot down Iranian civilian airliner in the Iranian territory in 1988.

As a show of emerging power, the Iranian armed forces, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the Basij militia volunteer forces as well as aerospace units participated in the parade during the ceremony on Wednesday.

The former commander of the IRGC, Mohsen Rezaee, also called for military developments in the Islamic republic, which he argued will discourage the enemies of the country from any raid.

"The longer the range of our missiles, the less probable the war occurrence and the more secure our country," Rezaee was quoted as saying by semi-official Mehr news agency.

In the capital Tehran, the military parade was held at the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The long-range surface-to-surface guided missile system Emad with a pinpoint accuracy, and a solid-fuel missile system dubbed Zolfaqar with a range of 750 kilometers and with a cluster warhead were among the homegrown systems put on display Wednesday in Tehran.

A similar parade was held in the port city of Bandar Abbas on Wednesday as well, in which over 500 vessels, fighter jets and helicopters participated, Tasnim reported.

On Wednesday, IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari recommended that the United States leave the Persian Gulf for good, since, he said, it is the home for the Iranian nation, Tasnim reported.

"We tell the Americans that they had better stop wasting the American people's assets and wealth by their malicious and harmful presence in the Persian Gulf," Jafari told reporters on the sidelines of the parade in Bandar Abbas.

The U.S. Navy had better go to the Bay of Pigs for adventurism or muscle show, he was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said that the U.S. military forces should leave the Persian Gulf as their presence in Iran's southern waters has no legal basis.

"The presence of American forces in the Persian Gulf lacks any legal and international justification and is against the will of regional nations," Shamkhani said. Endit