MNA – President Hassan Rouhani said Tue. that history has taught Iran to grow stronger and insist on pursuing its goals, otherwise other countries would try to bring Iran to its knees.







The Iranian president made the remarks in a ceremony marking the National Day of Defense Industry. The event also featured the unveiling of the latest achievements in the defense sector, including the first homegrown fighter/trainer jet ‘Kosar’ which underwent its successful flight-tests today in the presence of President Rouhani.

“The past 40 years is a testament to the fact that we have not attacked any country, and if we really wanted to, we had some exceptional military-wise opportunities to take advantage of, but we didn’t do such a thing,” said President Rouhani, noting the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the unstable state of Iran's northern borders, or Iraq’s weakened state during Saddam’s attack on Kuwait.

“When Saddam attacked Kuwait and Iraq was almost under a global blockade, it was a critical situation that we could apparently use to our advantage and take down Iraq, but we let the opportunity go,” said Rouhani, stressing that Iran’s military strategy is not offensive, even when faced with a country that had previously waged an eight-year war against Iran.