MNA � Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, chairman of the Assembly of Experts, said that without the eight years of Sacred Defense, Iran would not have had today�s defense power.

�The war bore many damages but it also had many blessings for Iran and led to our self-sufficiency in the defense sector,� he said on Tuesday while addressing a meeting of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran.

In late September 1980, the regime of slain Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched a war against Iran. The eight-year war is known as the Sacred Defense in Iran, and the Sacred Defense Week is held on the anniversary of the beginning of the war.

�No one believed that we could resist and enemies were thinking about occupying Iran in a week but thanks to the leadership of Imam Khomeini and resistance, the nation stood on its feet,� said Ayatollah Jannati.

�Without the Sacred Defense, we would have not achieved defense power. The war taught us how to build weapons and how to resist. Without the Sacred Defense, we would have not been able to target advanced US aircraft,� he added, referring to the downing of a US intruding drone by IRGC back in June in the Hormuz Strait region.

Elsewhere, he also pointed to the Yemeni attacks on Saudi oil facilities, saying, �People of Yemen resisted and targeted Aramco facilities. The reduction of Al Saud power is the result of resistance.�