Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the defense capabilities of armed forces must increase.
"In the Islamic Republic system, the main duty of the armed forces is to protect national security, so the operational capability of these forces and their moral motivation must be boosted day by day," Ayatollah Khamenei said in the first meeting with military commanders in Tehran on Sunday in the new Iranian year, which started on March 20, IRNA reported.
"By increasing the operational capability of the armed forces, which encompasses organization, equipment, training and logistics, accompanied by improving their moral abilities … the armed forces will gain a real sense of power," he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the armed forces do not belong to any particular faction, but to the whole nation and must make efforts to provide security for the whole nation.
Prior to the Leader's address, chairman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi read a report on the activities and plans of the armed forces.
Firouzabadi said the armed forces feel obliged to bolster the country's defense capability and deterrence power, especially by building up the stockpile of ballistic missiles and expanding missile sites.
