TEHRAN - Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani frowned upon political maneuvers by rival political factions in the run-up to the Bahman 22 (February 11) rallies.

Bahman 22 marks the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran founded by the late Imam Khomeini in 1979.
Bahman 22 is a day for guarding the revolutionary values and reaffirming commitment to the Islamic revolution and the late Imam Khomeini and not a day for political maneuvering instigated by foreign powers, the parliament speaker told an open session of the Majlis.
Larijani described Imam Khomeini as a great mystic, deep philosopher and an intellectual politician.
Islam, republicanism, independence and freedom are the legacy of the late Imam Khomeini on the bases of which the Islamic Republic was founded, he explained.
Imam Khomeini taught that true independence would be materialized through anti-Western and anti-Eastern slogans and faith in God, Larijani added.
He went on to say that the Islamic Revolution, led by Imam Khomeini, serves as a model for oppressed nations and challenges the global arrogance.
Anti-colonialism and freedom are the defining characteristics of the Islamic Revolution and the driving force behind “self-actualization” in the society, he observed.
The Majlis speaker also pointed to a report that the U.S. is deploying anti-missile weapons in the Persian Gulf under a pretext to protect its allies from Iranian missile threats.
The plan is intended to extend U.S. military presence in the region, the speaker said.
Iran has never initiated an attack on its neighbors since the Islamic revolution, but the Islamic Republic has never given into the pressure by major powers, he noted.
Sunni-Shia unity
He said that the unity among Shia and Sunni branches of Islam has always been the strategy backed the Islamic Republic and called on regional countries to be more vigilant in the face of “the new U.S. political ploy”.
“Regional countries must be aware that the U.S. puppet show of security and protection is nothing but a new political ploy aimed at expanding its presence (in the region) at the cost of others,” he stated.
Commenting on the London conference on Afghanistan, Larijani pointed out that the conference revealed the U.S. and Britain’s double standard approach toward terrorism