Iran urges regional peace at army parade

Female members of Iran's Basij militia carry national flags during the Army Day parade in Tehran yesterday. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed his country's armed forces as the "guarantor" of regional security during the low-profile parade in the capital.Photo: AFP

Iran marked Army Day yesterday with a low-key military parade and a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that contrasted sharply with his confrontational tirades of previous years.
He hailed the armed forces as the "guarantor" of regional security but refrained from making tub-thumping boasts about Iran's military might after Washington called for dialogue over Tehran's controversial nuclear drive.
Iran's military top brass also said Tehran sought only peace and stability in the region.
Ahmadinejad's more moderate comments came as the administration of US President Barack Obama called for talks over Iranian nuclear ambitions, which Western powers fear could be a cover for efforts to build an atomic bomb.
"Iran's armed forces are the guarantor of security in the region," the president said in an unusually short televised speech.
"Today the Iranian nation, with its religious armed forces, is ready to have a wide role in world management and to establish security based on justice across the world."
Ahmadinejad's remarks were echoed by armed forces chief General Hasan Firouzabadi, who said: "Our president has never challenged others and has only responded to the insults of others against the Islamic republic."