Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that based on Islamic principles Iran has no aggressive intents but its armed forces are ready to protect the nation against “the aggressive illusions of the enemies,” Press TV reported.

Khamenei spoke on Friday at a military base in the city of Bojnourd in the North Khorasan province after Commander of Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari presented a report on defensive capabilities of Iran’s military force.

"What motivates the hegemonic powers to wage war is the sale of arms and cultivation of military industries that depend on capitalists,” Press TV quoted Khamenei as saying.

“And the only factor that suppresses such war-waging impulse of power-seekers is the general readiness of the [Iranian] nation and defensive preparedness of the armed forces," Khamenei said.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Washington and Tel Aviv have not ruled out the possibility of striking Iran's nuclear facilities.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Wednesday that the use of force against Tehran would spell the end of the negotiating process on Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran's envoy to Moscow Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi last Monday reaffirmed Tehran’s readiness to hold constructive talks with the six major world powers (P5+1). He added, however, that a precondition was that the West should abandon its hostile position toward the Islamic Republic.