The first deputy head of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Defense Ministry says Iran demonstrated a “shining example” of defense during the recent illegal US-Israeli war of aggression.
“Iranian Armed Forces showed to the world a shining example of their firm resolve to defend their country's interests,” Major-General Yevgeny Ilyin said during a ceremony in Moscow on Thursday, marking Iran’s National Army Day.
Iranian forces, he added, stand ready to deliver a proper and proportionate response to emerging challenges and threats.
The Russian military official said the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, with its steadfastness and courage, has protected the country’s defense and security and turned into a reliable guarantor for the nation’s independence and stability.
The unprovoked US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.
Iranian armed forces unleashed 100 waves of successful retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region.
On April 8, forty days into the war, a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire went into effect but the first round of Tehran-Washington negotiations failed to reach an agreement.
Referring to the strategic partnership pact signed between Iran and Russia, Ilyin said that both states have maintained their cooperation in many fields.
Iran-Russia defense relations are multifaceted, encompassing areas from the deep sea to space, he added.
The military official also reiterated Russia’s resolve to implement previous agreements with Iran and continue working on plans for bilateral military cooperation.
During the ceremony, Iran's military attaché to Russia Sadeq Rezaei Moqaddam said Iranian Armed Forces have always been committed to moral principles and differentiated between military and civilian targets.
On the contrary, he said, the US and the Israeli regime perpetrated horrible war crimes by killing 170 students and teachers at an elementary school in the city of Minab, and targeting the Iranian Dena destroyer which was returning home from a naval drill in India.
The attacks on civilian infrastructure and educational centers represent the enemies’ strategic failure to deal a blow to the will of the Iranian nation, Rezaei Moqaddam asserted.
The perfect coordination of the Army units and other forces caused the aggressors to step back and thwarted their calculations, he said.
He further stressed that enhanced technical and military cooperation between the Iranian and Russian armed forces not only guarantees the national security of both nations, but is also the main pillar to safeguarding stability in Eurasia and countering unilateralism and organized international crimes.
