Major General Mohammad Bagheri Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces made the remarks in the introduction ceremony of newly-appointed Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Gharaei Ashtiani, held at the venue of Imam Ali (PBUH) Amphitheater in Tehran on Sunday, and reiterated that United States weakened Afghan Army which cost it dearly in financial terms by spending huge amount of money for it.
He emphasized the need for developing and boosting defensive power in today’s world and added that the development of defense power for the Islamic Establishment is a ‘definite and inevitable’ task due to various reasons.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Major General Bagheri pointed to the verses of Holy Quran on strengthening defense power and stressed, “According to the Holy Quran, officials in the Islamic community are duty bound to boost their defense power for deterrence, the issue of which has always been emphasized by Leader of the Islamic Revolution.”
Islamic Iran is located in the most sensitive part of the world’s geography, in which, many incidents and unrests have happened in recent years and the future also is subject to these threats.
Referring to US crimes and numerous military operations launched in the West Asian region, he pointed to its latest crime in Afghanistan which cost it dearly by spending huge fund worth $2,000 billion.
He went on to say that the United States turned Afghan Army into a weak army in the international arena that only resisted for only eleven days.
Under such circumstances, maintaining defense capability and progress is essential in today’s world that would not be possible without indigenous and efficient defense capabilities, Brigadier General Bagheri emphasized.
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