TEHRAN -- The Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here Thursday lauded the sacrifice and services rendered by devout physicians during the eight-year sacred defense.

The Leader made the remark in a meeting with a group of physicians who served during the sacred defense (1980-88).

He said, "The spirit of bravery, readiness to attend the battlefields and sacrificing personal interests for national interests should always be commended in the society."

According to IRNA, Ayatollah Khamenei added that national bravery guarantees happiness and development in the society, noting the bravery of Iranian combatants during the bloody war.

He criticized certain efforts aimed to denigrate the spirit of bravery and sacrifice, and disparage the religious values and the achievements of the Islamic Revolution and called for confrontation against such efforts. "The only way for the human being to emancipate from the oppression of major powers is belief in God and Islam."

The event was also attended by the Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Rahim Safavi and Health Minister Mohammad Farhadi.

The visitors said their prayers led by Ayatollah Khamenei and then broke their fast on the third day of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramazan.