President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Saturday that the young generation shoulders a heavy responsibility of nation building and helping avert a world catastrophe.
His remarks were part of a speech he delivered at a school ceremony marking the start of a new academic year in Iran Saturday morning.
The president rang a bell at a boy’s elementary school in southern Tehran to mark another school year.
“The present generation of young Iranians are aware of their responsibilities and are eager to fulfill them just as the previous generation successfully defended the country’s borders during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war,” the Iranian president said.
Sacred Defence Week started Friday with a ceremony marking the start of a week of activities highlighting the bravery and resistance of the Iranian nation during eight years of Iraqi-imposed war at the mausoleum of the Founder of the Islamic Republic — Imam Khomeini — in southern Tehran.
During the ceremony, Iranian military forces marched in uniform in a show of military and defense power.
Exemplary units of the Armed Forces, the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Islamic Republic of Iran Police (IRIP) paraded before the country’s military and civilian authorities in celebration of the heroic and religious triumph of the country during the 1980-88 Iraqi-imposed war.
Iran’s latest military and defense achievements were also put on display at the parade.