Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday "satanic" foreign forces had failed in their bid to dominate the Middle East's energy resources and that they did not dare to threaten Iran, Reuters reported.
Addressing a military parade, Ahmadinejad said that the region could handle its own security without the U.S. and other foreign forces, although he did not actually name the United States.
"We saw that oppressive, arrogant ... and satanic powers planned, using a suspicious excuse to gain dominance over the world's energy reserves ..., brought their troops to our region," Ahmadinejad said at the annual ceremony. "Today they have failed," he said in the televised address. "The Iranian nation has reached a level that none of the world powers dare to threaten (it)," he added.