JERUSALEM, Israel -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country would press on "forever" with its "peaceful" nuclear programs.
Speaking at ceremonies marking the 35th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Rouhani said countries in the region had nothing to fear.
He rebuffed threats to renew "brutal, illegal, and wrong" economic sanctions or resort to military action against its nuclear facilities.
"I say explicitly to those delusional people who say the military option is on the table that they should change their glasses," he said. "Our nation regards the language of threats as rude and offensive."
Rouhani said "the movement of the Iranian nation toward the peaks of scientific and technical progress and advancement, including peaceful nuclear technology, will be forever," reiterating that Iran is a peaceful nation with no intentions to harm any nation.
"We wanted to strip ill-wishers of their scare tactics," Rouhani said. "We wanted to speak even louder that there is no basis for fearing Iran in the region, that they are all lies," he continued. "We must eradicate the negative image in world public opinion about our [Islamic] revolution."
Meanwhile, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said test firing of ballistic missiles should be seen as the correct response to "recent unfounded allegations" by the U.S. that "all options are on the table."
He added that one of the long-range ballistic missiles was equipped with radar-evading capabilities."
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Today's Zaman contributed to this report.
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