Iran Will Build Up Defense Despite US Objections

President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday Iran will press on with its defense program with full force in defiance of hostile states that want to rein in its military power, vowing that the country will overcome all challenges through national unity. 
“We will stay on the path that we have chosen and will continue to enhance our military capabilities. Iran’s military power over the past four decades … has astonished the entire world,” he said during a ceremony held in Tehran to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the US-backed monarchical regime, the presidential website reported.  
Thousands of people, including senior officials, streamed toward Tehran’s Azadi Square where Rouhani delivered his remarks.