Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Monday that the Islamic Republic of Iran was the only country that delivered a decisive and crushing response to the Israeli regime. He made the remarks during a ceremony held at Malek Ashtar University of Technology to mark Student Day.
According to Mehr News Agency, Nasirzadeh began his speech by referring to the historical significance of December 7 (16 Azar) and its link to the Iranian nation’s struggle against the United States. He said Student Day is, in essence, a day of confronting global arrogance, adding that today the clearest example of that is the United States.
Reviewing developments after World War II and the rise of US power, the minister said Washington exploited global conditions, its geographic position, and its influence in international institutions to establish a hegemonic structure. He added that the United States later expanded its naval power and declared that it must have a presence in all oceans — a reflection, he said, of the true nature of global arrogance.
Pointing to more recent cases of US intervention, Nasirzadeh stated that from regional countries to Ukraine, wherever the US has intervened, the result has been pressure, war, and the misleading of public opinion. In the region, he continued, the Israeli regime acts as the instrument of US policies — a base established by Washington to advance its hegemonic objectives.
Elsewhere in his speech, the defense minister highlighted the defensive strength of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He said Iran was the only country that inflicted a decisive response on the Israeli regime. He added that Israel is a regime that, once it dominates an area, neither retreats nor accepts a ceasefire unless it is forced to do so. According to Nasirzadeh, the military, defensive, and scientific capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran caused serious damage to Israel during the 12-day war, leading the regime to request a ceasefire. This, he said, reflects Iran’s capability and power.
Nasirzadeh also referred to Iran’s longstanding civilization, emphasizing that it has never accepted domination. He said the United States is inherently hegemonic, while the Islamic Republic of Iran is inherently independence-seeking. These two identities, he stressed, are fundamentally incompatible. Surrender, he said, has never aligned with the identity of the Islamic Republic, the history of Iran, or the character of the Iranian people.
A 12-day war between Iran and Israel broke out on June 13, 2025, triggered by Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities that killed several senior nuclear scientists and military officials.
More than a week later, the United States also entered the war by bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities in a grave violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Iran’s armed forces responded by striking strategic sites across the occupied territories as well as the al-Udeid air base in Qatar, the largest American military facility in West Asia.
On June 24, Iran said its retaliatory operations against Israel and the United States imposed a halt to the illegal assault.
MNA/6681353
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