Supreme Leader of the Islamic republic of Iran Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei met with a group of army commanders during a visit he made to an army base, the office of the Supreme Leader reported Sunday.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei met with a group of army commanders during a visit he made to an army base, the office of the Supreme Leader reported Sunday.

During the visit, Imam Khamenei inspected an exhibit of the Army's research and engineering activities, held a video conference with army units in bases West and Southeast Iran, and listened to speeches and reports for the forces’ commanders.

His eminence later delivered a speech in which he remembered the armed forces’ victory in the “eight-year Sacred Defense” in reference to the Iran-Iraq war, and called upon the commanders to boost their military training, the leader’s official website further reported.

In parallel, Imam Khamenei stressed the army’s major role in serving the national interests, rejecting “the domineering powers' claims that their armies were established just to protect their national interests.”

“Those armies were actually serving the powers' political transgression rather than national interests,” he explained, asking: “Does the US army seek to serve the American people's interests by massacring Iraqi and Afghan people?”

Moreover, his eminence highlighted that Iran was an inspiration for the regional uprisings, adding that “as the world is being categorized into domineering versus domineered; Iran stands at the center.”

“The superpowers' intimidations and threats of sanctions against the Islamic Iran stem from the very political reality,” Imam Khamenei indicated, and considered that “the colonial powers are afraid of Islamic Iran's faithful and firm youths as well as the people's political foresight and high national sentiments.”