Speaker: Army has duty to defend national independence

Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said here Wednesday that the Islamic Republic Army has the duty to defend and safeguard the country’s independence and territorial integrity.

Haddad-Adel told a group of army officials that without independence a country is devoid of everything.

He said anybody joining the army should have strong faith and be wise.

He stressed that religion and politics cannot be separated.

The speaker said that presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan and Iraq in name of freedom and democracy was aimed at plundering the wealth and resources and creating further tension.