FIGHTING BACK
Iran’s president warns the West to ‘stay away’ and unveils ballistic missiles that could strike US bases
IRAN’S president has warned the West to “stay away” from the tensions in the Persian Gulf as he watched a parade of medium-range missiles.
President Hassan Rouhani slammed a new US-led coalition patrolling the region's waterways following the Saudi oil plant attack.
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He issued the warning while watching the Islamic Republic's military showcase their chilling arsenal in Tehran
The parade involved goose-stepping soldiers carrying submachine guns while portable missile launchers drove past as part of "Holy Defence Week," which marks the start of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980.
Among the weaponry on show was the ballistic missile Khorramshahr believed to have a range of more than 1,200 miles – and capable of hitting US military bases in the Gulf.
Addressing western powers, Rouhani said: “Your presence has always been a calamity for this region and the farther you go from our region and our nations, the more security would come for our region.”
He promised to unveil a regional peace plan at this week's upcoming high-level meetings at the United Nations.
The US alleges Iran carried out the September 14 attack on the world's largest oil processor and an oil field in Saudi Arabia.
While Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels claimed the assault, Saudi Arabia says it was "unquestionably sponsored by Iran."
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For its part, Iran denies being responsible and has warned any retaliatory attack targeting it will result in an "all-out war."
That's as it has begun enriching uranium beyond the terms of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from over a year earlier.
Rouhani said Iran was willing to "extend the hand of friendship and brotherhood" to Persian Gulf nations and was "even ready to forgive their past mistakes."
"Those who want to link the region's incidents to the Islamic Republic of Iran are lying like their past lies that have been revealed," the president said.
"If they are truthful and really seek security in the region, they must not send weapons, fighter jets, bombs and dangerous arms to the region."
US and Iran - a troubled history
- Before the 1979 Iranian revolution, Iran was one of America's biggest allies in the Middle East and was led by the US-backed Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
- However, since the seismic revolt, Iran has been led by murderous Islamic fundamentalists and tensions with Washington have remained ever since.
- On November 4, 1979, the Iranian regime took 52 US diplomats hostage in response to President Carter’s administration allowing Iran’s deposed former leader into America.
- The hostage crisis lasted for 444 days and also included a failed rescue mission which cost the lives of eight US soldiers.
- In April 1980, the US ended diplomatic relations with Iran – a break which lasted for more than 30 years.
- In April 1983, Washington blamed the Iranian-funded terror group Hezbollah for carrying out a bombing attack on the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
- The assault, carried out amid a brutal civil war in Lebanon, killed 17 Americans.
- In November of that year, two truck bombs in Beruit killed 241 US peace keepers. The US again blamed Hezbollah for the incident.
- The Clinton White House, in 1995, placed a total embargo on Iran meaning US companies could not trade with the country.
- And in 2002, George W Bush included the Islamic Republic in his famous “Axis of evil” speech along with North Korea and Iraq.
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