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 In a speech marking the 35th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic
revolution, Rouhani also attacked economic sanctions imposed by the
West as "brutal, illegal and wrong" and said countries in the region
had nothing to fear from Iran.
Iran's military test-fired two new domestically made missiles on
Monday, a gesture of national resolve ahead of talks next week with
world powers to try to reach an agreement on curbing Tehran's
nuclear program.
Rouhani said Western officials continued to argue that if such
efforts came to nothing, there was always the option of using
military force against its nuclear facilities.
"I say explicitly to those delusional people who say the military
option is on the table, that they should change their glasses ...
Our nation regards the language of threat as rude and offensive," he
said.
"I want to expressly announce that the movement of the Iranian
nation towards the peaks of scientific and technical progress and
advancement, including peaceful nuclear technology, will be
forever," he added.
INTERIM DEAL
Iran and six world powers struck an interim deal in November under
which Tehran agreed to limit parts of its nuclear work in return for
the easing of some international sanctions.
Hardliners, unsettled by the foreign policy shift since Rouhani was
elected in June, have repeatedly criticized the agreement. Iran's
most powerful authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has
so far backed the deal.
Iran and the six powers will start negotiating a full agreement in
Vienna on February 18. Easing of sanctions, imposed on Iran over its
nuclear activities, began in late January.
In recent weeks Iranian officials have repeatedly criticized U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry for speaking about a potential
military option, something his counterparts in several other Western
countries have continued to do. Kerry told Saudi-owned al Arabiya television on January 23 that if
Tehran did not keep abide by the interim deal "the military option
of the United States is ready and prepared to do what it would have
to do".
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Rouhani said that if major powers approached Iran in the nuclear
talks seeking mutual interest, respect and cooperation, they would
receive a positive and proper response. If their approach was
inappropriate, this would be harmful to the region.
"SCARE TACTICS"
Rouhani said Iran had peaceful intentions.
"We wanted to strip ill-wishers of their scare-tactics, we wanted to
speak even louder that there is no basis for fearing Iran in the
region, that they are all lies ... We must eradicate the negative
image in world public opinion about our revolution."
The official IRNA news agency quoted Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan
as saying on Tuesday that the test fire of a ballistic missile
should be regarded as a proper response to what it called recent
unfounded allegations made by the United States.
Speaking to IRNA, he said the test firing was in response to the
allegation of those underlining that "all options are on the table".
Dehqan said one of the missiles was a long-range ballistic missile
with radar-evading capabilities.
(Reporting by Mehrdad Balali; writing by William Maclean;
editing by
Andrew Heavens)
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