FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a news conference with Iraqi President Barham Salih (not pictured) in Baghdad, Iraq, March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) – President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that Iranian armed forces were not a threat against any regional country, as Tehran held an Army Day military parade to unveil its latest military equipment.
“I want to tell the regional countries that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are not against you and your national interests. They stand against invaders… The roots of our problems are the Zionist regime and American imperialism,” Rouhani said in a ceremony in Tehran, broadcast live on state television.
Rouhani also said the U.S. designation of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization was “abhorrent” and an “insult” to the Iranian nation.
Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Michael Perry