Iranian President Hassan Rouhani defended the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers at a gathering of commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. At the 21st National Assembly of IRGC commanders, Rouhani stressed the need for unity but also made headlines for suggesting that social and environmental problems are as dangerous as the enemies facing Iran.

Rouhani praised the accomplishments of the IRGC and other armed forces after the 1979 revolution in protecting the state’s independence and borders. He said that according to the constitution, the duty of the armed forces is to protect “the independence of the state and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic.” He added that other institutions in the country also have this responsibility, including the Supreme National Security Council, a body for which he was the secretary for nearly 16 years.

Rouhani, who recently warned that he would not allow “extremists” in Iran to sabotage the nuclear deal, stressed the need for unity, saying, “You cannot create a distance between the revolution and the state.” Rouhani did not explain how he defined these two different ideas, but the notion of continuously being a revolutionary state has had at times been in conflict with the practical goals of running the country. The state, sometimes referred to as “the system” in Iran, can be considered both the elected and unelected institutions of the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani added, “The Islamic Revolution is not separate from the state of the Islamic Republic. We must not make two paths, with one being the Islamic Revolution and the other being the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic is a product of the Islamic Revolution.”