TEHRAN, 19 April 2005 — President Mohammad Khatami said yesterday Iran had the military might to deter attacks against Tehran, which is under Western pressure over its nuclear program.
“Iran’s armed forces are fully prepared to defend the Islamic republic,” Khatami said in a speech at the annual Army Day parade.
“Iran is ready to pay any price but not yield to any aggression and oppression,” he said as army units marched past.
The United States and Israel accuse Iran of developing atomic weapons and have vowed to stop Tehran acquiring them.
But US officials have played down media speculation they were planning military action and Israeli Prime Minister last week said his country was not planning a military strike to prevent Iran from getting the bomb. Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are limited to peaceful electricity generation.
Khatami took the salute as thousands of army, navy and air force troops passed the flower-covered stand at the grave of the Islamic republic’s late founder Ayatollah Khomeini.
Dozens of US and Russian-made warplanes, as well as helicopters, flew to demonstrate the country’s combat capabilities.
War veterans in wheelchairs carried portraits of Iranian commanders killed in the 1980-88 war against Iraq.
“We are proud of our armed forces, especially the army,” Khatami said. The parade included locally-made Zelzal and Nazeat missiles, battle tanks and amphibious armored personnel carriers, but Iran’s medium-range Shahab-3 missile was not put on show.
Last October, Iran announced successful trials of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile with a range of 1,250 miles, putting parts of Europe, as well as Israel and US bases in the Gulf, within reach. Khatami also hit out at Washington’s desire to promote democracy around the world, saying it couldn’t be imposed on sovereign states.
“The world is faced by a worrisome situation with the excuse of promoting democracy,” he said. “Iran is an independent country. It will never yield to expansionism.”
