Iran’s president warned the United States and other foreign powers to “stay away” amid a military parade that paraded long-range missiles in Tehran.
President Hassan Rouhani said, “If the outsiders are sincere and really after peace and security, they must stop deploying such an amount of dangerous weapons to the region and not turn our region into an arms race and stockpile.”
He added that “if they really favor regional security, they must stay away from the region, because their presence has always been a predicament and burden on the region,” according to the state-backed Tasnim News Agency on Sept. 22.
The remarks come about a week after attacks on Saudi Arabian oil production facilities, for which the United States has blamed Iran. The Islamic regime has denied allegations made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials.
“This was an attack by Iran on the world,” Pompeo stated in a Sunday interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“We’re looking for a diplomatic resolution to this, unlike the Iranians,” Pompeo stated, adding: “Apparently the Iranians are bloodthirsty and looking for war.”
The United States, meanwhile, announced that it would send more troops to Saudi Arabia following the incident. President Donald Trump last week announced sanctions on high-level Iranian officials and said he doesn’t want to go to war.
At the weekend Tehran parade, the regime displayed Khordad-3 air defense system along with its long-range, surface-to-air Bavar 373 missile, reported The Telegraph.
Rouhani later watched as goose-stepping soldiers carrying submachine guns and portable missile launchers drove past as part of “Holy Defense Week,” which marks the start of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, according to The Associated Press.
“Your presence has always been a calamity for this region and the farther you go from our region and our nations, the more security would come for our region,” he said, referring Western nations.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also delivered a speech at the military ceremony, criticizing U.S.-backed military coalitions in the region.
“We regard the emergence of such coalitions as the start of a new game to make the region insecure,” Larijani said, according to Tasnim.
Iran has denied involvement in the Saudi attack, which was claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.
From The Epoch Times
