Tehran, Iran, Aug. 17
By Mehdi Sepahvand -- Trend:
Iran's military doctrine is based on defense and it lacks offensive outlook in strategy, structure, or equipment, Iranian Minister of Defense Hossein Dehqan said.
"The core to our defense system should be deterrence so that enemies dare not do anything against us and if they have done something, we should make them regret it," he stated, Mehr news agency reported August 17.
He pointed to the critical situations of security in the Middle East after the US-USSR power system faded away.
"As a country in this sensitive spot which is subject to various threats, we are always changing. Therefore, our armed forces are required to monitor threats and equip themselves properly in order to succeed," he added.
Last week, members of the Iranian Parliament in a statement addressed to Chief of Staff of Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi asked for the resumption of missile tests.
The US has on occasions accused Iran of developing mass destruction weapons, sometimes even claiming that certain Iranian-made missiles can carry nuclear warheads.
But Iran has always emphasized it deplores nuclear weapons on humanitarian and religious grounds.
"Our defense relies on the public. During the eight-year [Iran-Iraq] war, the whole war logistics depended on the public. It is the same today," Dehqan said.
"On one side we stress that we don't need nuclear weapons. But on the other side we emphasize the role of people, which is more powerful than nuclear weapons."
Edited by CN