Leader: Iran to Keep Holding Naval War Games in Persian Gulf
News ID: 1064775 Service: Politics
May, 02, 2016 – 17:08
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei hammered the US for its schemes against Iran’s military presence in the Persian Gulf and made it clear that the Islamic Republic will continue to demonstrate power at its home, the Persian Gulf.
“The Persian Gulf is the Iranian nation’s home …, and the coasts of the Persian Gulf and large parts of the Sea of Oman coasts belong to this strong nation,” Imam Khamenei said on Monday, in an address to a gathering of teachers in Tehran.
Taking a swipe at the US Congress for plans against Iran’s naval drills, the Leader added, “Today, the enemies are biting off more than they can chew. For example, they draw plans that Iran should not hold military war games in the Persian Gulf.”
Imam Khamenei stressed that the great Iranian nation can respond to all those excessive demands, stressing, “We must be present in that region (the Persian Gulf), hold war games and demonstrate power.”
“It is Americans who should explain why they have come here from the other side of the world and stage war games,” Ayatollah Khamenei stressed.
The Leader underlined that the Iranian nation’s power forces the enemies to withdraw, but lack of demonstration of power in the face of the adversaries or signs of fear will make them “more brazen”.
Imam Khamenei then explained that power is not confined to military weapons, but “science, faith, national character, resistance and revolutionary identity” are other factors of power generation.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then warned against the plots that “the international hegemony” has hatched against Iran, including the methods to influence the future generation of Iranians and make the elites, politicians and influential figures think and behave in the way the hegemony desires.
Elsewhere, Ayatollah Khamenei said the responsibility of training Iranian students with the “premium criteria” does not lie with the Education Ministry alone, but other organizations, including the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, need to share the burden.
The Leader made the comments on the occasion of the National Teachers’ Day.
Iran has some 13 million school students and around 1 million teachers.
