opinion

February 11 is the anniversary of the victory of the Iranian Islamic revolution.

On February 11 1979, the Iranian people toppled the Pahlavi dictatorship and won victory in their revolution. This was the victory of Iranian people’s aspirations and will to independently live and develop and marked a turning point in creating a new life.

After the victorious revolution, they advanced vigorously along the road they chose in order to safeguard the gains of the revolution under the banner of independence against imperialism.

While maintaining the principle of anti-imperialism and independence, Iran has strived to oppose dominationism and develop the relationship with neighbouring countries on the principle of mutual respect and cooperation.

It has bolstered up the ties of bilateral cooperation with other countries in the Middle East. Last year, it re-established diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia which had been severed for years and boosted cooperation in different fields with the Middle East countries, namely Oman and Egypt.

In the international arena, it has denounced and rejected the hegemony-seeking policy of the US and other Western countries and their interference in the internal affairs of other countries and defended its national sovereignty.

When the UK, France and Germany picked a quarrel with Iran in connection with its launch of a satellite on January 20, it branded and rejected such slander of the Western countries as interventionism and asserted that the technological development in outer space for peaceful purposes is a legitimate right of the country.

Today, the Iranian people are putting more spurs to the buildup of national defence capability in order to reliably protect the country’s sovereignty from the ever-increasing moves against Iran by hostile forces.

At present, when the role of drones stands out in bold relief in modern warfare with each passing day, Iran is making every endeavour for the qualitative and quantitative buildup of its drone force. In the course of this, it developed and produced many drones capable of performing various missions with its own techniques and commissioned them in the Iranian army.

The navy of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is making a remarkable leap forward in attack and defence capabilities. A new warship and a hundred missile launching pads were opened to the public in the country on January 6.

The commander-in-chief of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps expressed his will to defend the national interests from the insidious manoeuvres of hostile forces in a ceremony held in Bandar Abbas, a southern port city.

On January 23, the Iranian army took delivery of lots of reconnaissance and combat drones produced at home. In a ceremony of receiving the drones that day, the Iranian minister of defence and armed forces logistics said that the drones would improve the combat capability of the Iranian army.

Iran’s efforts to defend the sovereignty of the country will constantly be strengthened.