Iran Backs 'Decisive Response' to Sanctions & Threats, Will Expand Defense Beyond Borders - Reports

With this statement, Iran is sending a warning message to the United States and its allies that have been waging an economic pressure campaign against the nation, which, to a larger extent, has affected the lives of ordinary Iranians.

It is vital that the Islamic Republic provides a "decisive response" to sanctions and threats coming from its enemies, Mehr News agency reported on Saturday, citing the military's message for the National Day of Defense Industry, celebrated annually on August 22.

While commemorating the martyrs, Iran's army vowed to "throw its weight" behind the earlier achievements in the defense industry and develop advanced defense technologies in air, land and marine fileds "wholehearted", the news agency said.

This comes as neighboring Afghanistan is witnessing the US' chaotic withdrawal from the country, after almost twenty years of war, initially intended to establish a stable and democratic Afghanistan. Without any resistance, the Taliban* movement took over Kabul on Sunday, with Ashraf Ghani resigning as the president and fleeing the country.

Iranian defense advisors reportedly told US media that Tehran "recognized that the Taliban inexorably is a part of realities on the ground."

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported citung a Farci-speaking news agency that Tehran is willing to boost its defense and national security capabilities beyond the borders, whiel continuing to develop its nuclear program, once again assuring that it is designed to serve peaceful purposes.

In this photo released Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, by the Iranian Army, troops participate in a military drill. Iran's military kicked off a ground forces drill on Tuesday along the coast of the Gulf of Oman, state TV reported, the latest in a series of snap exercises that the country is holding amid escalating tensions over its nuclear program and Washington's pressure campaign against Tehran.

© AP Photo

"Our country has an important role to play in strengthening the resistance front and expanding the radius of defense of national security beyond the borders of the country,” the ministry said in a message for Defense Industries Day", the network reportedly said.

Israel has long been sounding an alarm about Iran's nuclear program, claiming there are only weeks left before Tehran obtains a nuke, and is worried by its military activities in the region. It regularly conducts airstrikes in neighboring Syria, the Arab Republic's military says, which target what Israel calls "Iran's entrenchment" in the country.

Iran has significantly improved its military capabilities and achieved support via its proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and other countries in the region.

* A terrorist organization banned in Russia