Stating that Iran's national security depends on preserving its territorial integrity, President Hassan Rouhani stressed: "Today, along with the experience of the imposed war (Iran-Iraq war) and the legacy of the holy defense, Iran's military institutions recognize their mission and responsibility more professionally than ever."
In his message on the occasion of (April 18), the Army Day of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he added: "Every nation is proud of its powerful army and every army is proud of its zealous and great nation; nations are defenseless without armies, and armies are defenseless without people, and governments without these two are "without capital" and altogether a solid barrier [against the enemies]."
The message reads: "Undoubtedly, the legitimacy of armies lies in their sacrifice, patriotism, and loyalty toward the national security, order, national unity, and territorial integrity. But the relationship of armies to nations is more strategic than the relationship of armies to governments. Governments need nations to stay in power, but when a nation is dissatisfied with a government and turns away, the armies must choose between nations and governments and decide and choose. The armies are armed, but their weapons target the enemies of the nations, not the nations. Armies are, of course, administratively part of governments and states, and therefore must obey governments by law. It is a democratic principle that the soldier obeys the commander. But it is also clear that the armies must support a government that has not betrayed its people."
The president also stated in this message: "Forty-three years ago, when the Iranian nation turned away from the monarchy and made a revolution against the dictatorship, the Pahlavi turned to the army in a delusion for its survival and asked it for a coup against the revolution and in fact, the army made its final choice and sided with the nation, because the army is ultimately part of the nation's boundless sea, and this is the difference between the Iranian army and other armies in the region.
HJ/PR