TEHRAN, Mar. 06 (MNA) – Iran’s Defense Minister Dehghan said national security is non-assignable and substantive, criticizing the Persian Gulf littoral states for ‘buying’ security by spending too much money on foreign-made military equipment.

Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan made the remarks this morning at the national conference on ‘efficiency in defense sector’, adding “security is non-assignable; if the Persian Gulf littoral states want to spend their money carelessly on buying equipment to purchase security for themselves, they should know that this is not the way to do it. [Relying on other countries for security] is in itself an anti-security decision.”

Highlighting that security is ‘substantive’, the Iranian defense minister added “security must solely depend on domestic capabilities within a political system and is not competitive or delegative.”

“Efficiency in Armed Forces means achieving maximum deterrence and defense power and playing an effective role for national development,” he said. “We need to be always prepared to have a vigilant presence in the field of defense so that we will not be taken off-guard by a strategic surprise.”

Dehghan then went on to stress that all people have equal right to security, adding “of course the security is for those who stand under the same political umbrella of national will. Security is not relevant to those who act against the sovereignty of the country.”

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