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Iran: Declares itself to have the strongest military in the world!
Well, so this article seems to read. Evan the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz are under Iranian Navy’s full control. I often wonder just what is really going on inside these folks heads, when they speak like this. Can it be, they really, really do believe what they are saying? Or, is lying, boasting just a way of life? H/T Michael Rubin at The Corner
TEHRAN -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called on members of the armed forces to maintain their religious and revolutionary identity here on Tuesday.

After the Islamic Revolution, the armed forces were turned into “an army with a religious and revolutionary identity,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with a group of army commanders on the eve of Army Day. The Islamic Republic established an innovative sociopolitical system based on religion, he stated.

With its “religious democracy” and “anti-hegemonistic character”, this initiative found its place in the world, especially among Muslim intellectuals, and the superpowers had to accept it, he added.

“As far as equipment, experience, and human resources, the Army of the Islamic Republic is now much stronger than it was at the beginning of the revolution and during the Sacred Defense (1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war),” Ayatollah Khamenei noted.

The Leader also called on Army personnel to continue with their activities and innovation and to make efforts to ensure that religious and talented people flourish in the military. -----------------General says enemy not powerful enough to attack Iran

Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi said here on Tuesday that the enemies of Iran can never attack the country because they know the military might of the Islamic Republic.

Thanks to the endeavors of its experts, the Iranian Army has made many achievements in various fields of military technology, and this has actually strengthened the sovereignty of Iran, he stated. Commenting on the military maneuver that is to be staged later today, concurrent with Army Day (April 18), Salehi said, “We take pride in our resolute defensive will that is strengthened by the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution and eight years of (Iraqi) imposed war on Iran.”

He went on to say that the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran have realized that they can never materialize their threats against the country, adding, “If incurring damage on Iran was a victory, they would have won the eight-year imposed war against Iran. “We are not worried about any possible damage and are certain of victory. This is a fact that the enemies are well aware of.”

Maintaining the military might of Iran and staging joint maneuvers of the Army, Air Force, and Navy during the first half of the Iranian calendar year (began March 21) are some of the most important objectives of the Army, he said. -----------Persian Gulf under Iranian Navy’s full control: admiral

“The Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz are under Iranian Navy’s full control,” the Iranian Army Navy Commander Admiral Sajjad Kuchaki said on Tuesday.

“The Navy is in a unique and perfect situation and is able to win any irregular and attrition warfare,” Kuchaki told the Mehr News Agency.

Through different war games and the continuous patrolling in the southern Persian Gulf waters the Navy has demonstrated that the enemy will receive a “serious and unpredictable” response if it does the slightest provocative action against Iran, the general argued.

The commander said that the forces under his command have built military and telecommunication systems through which they have detected the enemy’s weak points and will give a striking response to any threats. “We seek innovation in the war against the enemy. If we fight with a specific tactic one day, that tactic will not be useful for a second war.”

The Navy submarines are equipped with a modern technology and will not allow any foreign country to make any adventurous move against the Islamic Republic, he commented.

The admiral proposed that security in the region should be established by the Persian Gulf littoral states because the destiny of the region should be determined by regional countries. The Navy has adopted a “defensive strategy”, Kuchaki said, adding, “Our message is establishment of security and friendship.” “Why should a country that is 8,000 kilometers away from region want to establish security in the region?

“An enforced security brings about captivity, but a security that is established by the regional states will bring about (permanent) peace,” the top general commented.
Posted by: Sherry 2007-04-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=186117