Despite sanctions and decelerating global growth, Iran is rapidly developing and will be one of the leading nations in the world in a decade, a senior military official said.
Brigadier General Hamid Abazari, Lieutenant Commander of Imam Hossein (AS) Military University, was quoted by the Fars News Agency as saying that "Iran will rise as one of the three powerful countries of the world in 2025."
Iran's high-ranking officials have repeatedly said that world powers imposed sanctions on Iran to hinder its progress. Western countries insist that several rounds of sanctions were introduced to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran has always said that its nuclear program is peaceful.
In a public speech in Tehran earlier this week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "The enemy is using the lever of sanctions to the hilt and their goal is to stop our people's progress."
