‘the Islamic Revolution will go on to defeat all US plots in the coming years just as it has done over the past four decades,’ Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday.
Millions took to the streets across Iran to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution of 11th February 1979.
Hundreds of thousands gathered at Azadi Square in Tehran and chanted ‘Death to America’ as President Rouhani told them that Iran will withstand new US sanctions.
‘Much to the dismay of America, the revolution has reached its 40th year,’ a giant banner read.
‘This nation has managed to establish a system of Islamic Republic and an independent system of government,’ President Rouhani insisted, adding that Iran has foiled conspiracies led by the United States and Israel.
‘The presence of people in this celebration means that plots by the enemies … have been defused,’ Rouhani said in his nationally-televised speech. ‘They will not achieve their ill-omened aims.’
President Rouhani told hundreds of thousands of demonstrators at Tehran’s famous Azadi Square that their presence ruined all the plots the enemies had hatched over the past year to pressure the nation politically and economically.
‘This presence makes it clear that the enemy will never succeed and the Revolution will continue on the same path as in the past 40 years,’ the president said. ‘We will not let America succeed,’ he added.
‘Let the whole world know that today Iran enjoys higher levels of preparedness, combat and defence.’
Iranian armed forces make 85 per cent of their weapons and equipment as opposed to the time of the Shah, when the figure stood at around five per cent, Rouhani added.
He made it clear that Tehran would not ask for permission to strengthen its defences, adding that Iran is not going to roll back its regional influence either.
‘Over the past five years, Iran provided assistance to Iraqi, Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian and Yemeni nations when it saw fit and the world saw how the enemies failed’ and now they are leaving the region, President Rouhani said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
‘Iran’s role in the region has reached a historical peak and no matter what other countries and superpowers say, Iran is the only country that can rush to help regional states,’ he said.
‘If you want regional security, no plan will succeed without Iran, and the global arrogance, Americans and Zionists, should know that this victory will be Iran’s.’
Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi, who took the podium after the president, doubled down on the importance of the occasion and said even more people were going to celebrate the Revolution over the next years because the Revolution was going to prosper.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said: ‘The enemy cannot ask us to leave the region. They must leave the region.
‘We will help any Muslim anywhere in the world.’
IRGC Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif said Iran would ‘firmly punish’ aggressors who attack the country. ‘Islamic Iran has reached a level … to protect its borders by effective military capabilities, and firmly punish any aggressor.’
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif minced no words while listing the United States’ failures over the past 40 years after US President Donald Trump shared his perception of Iran’s performance during the same period.
‘Forty Years of Failure to accept that Iranians will never return to submission. 40 Years of Failure to adjust US policy to reality. 40 Years of Failure to destabilise Iran through blood & treasure,’ Zarif said.
‘After 40 years of wrong choices, time for Donald Trump to rethink failed US policy,’ he added.
Zarif, meanwhile, also congratulated the Iranian public on their massive turnout during Monday’s celebrations and rallies.
‘I bow in admiration to Iran’s resilient people who – despite hardships & grievances – today poured into the streets by the millions to mark the 40th anniversary of their Islamic Revolution, which some in the US wished would never come. US should take note: REAL Iranians never succumb to diktats,’ he tweeted.
A day earlier, Trump used the 40th anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, celebrated by millions of Iranians all across the country, as the subject of a fiery tweet posted in Persian, but also featuring an English-language text-over-image translation.
Trump alleged that the Islamic Republic had, over the four decades that had followed the victory, not brought about anything but ‘corruption, repression, terror’. Trump concluded that Tehran had ‘produced only failure’ ever since.
First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, who travelled to the city of Shiraz to mark the event there, said Iranians would overcome America’s ‘economic war’ as they did during the Iran-Iraq war.
‘Let me send this message to Americans that the Iranian government, nation and officials are pushing to break the American sanctions,’ he said.
• The Iranian Embassy in Damascus on Monday held a reception ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran at the Dama Rose Hotel in Damascus.
In a speech delivered during the ceremony, Iranian Ambassador in Damascus Javad Javad Torkabadi expressed his country’s support to the Syrian people and leadership till restoring all the Syrian territories.
Turk-Abadi affirmed that Tehran will be the first contributing to the reconstruction in Syria which is achieving victories today.
The Ambassador referred to the deep-rooted historic relations binding Syria and Iran, affirming that they will continue to further develop to meet the interests of the two countries’ peoples.
He indicated that Iran has defended its national sovereignty and it has established solid relations on the bases of cooperation and common interests and the non-interference in the internal affairs of the states.
Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Fayssal Mikdad, for his part, asserted in a speech delivered at the ceremony that cooperation between Iran and Syria continues to achieve more victories over terrorism and its backers and sponsors.
Mikdad added that the friendly relations between the two countries are based on the principle of equality in the sovereignty, mutual respect and adherence to what achieves the interests of the Syrian and Iranian peoples.
He indicated that Syria has remained steadfast in the face of the siege and the unilateral coercive economic measures which target civilians and innocent children, asserting that Syria will continue to combat terrorism until liberating every inch of its territories.
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