"Developing missile capabilities, considered as our defensive deterrent power, will remain Iran's top priority despite crippling economic sanctions imposed by the US," Brigadier General Amir Hatami said in an interview with Iran IRIB1 'Negah Yek' on Saturday.
Noting the unveiling of the new generation of Fateh-e Mobin missile on August 13, the defense minister said the production of the missile will lead to the undertaking of a huge step toward the development of Iran’s defense and deterrent capabilities.
Our focus was on promoting and developing the capability and quality of our missiles., Hatami said, adding "given the enemy's efforts to boost anti-missile capabilities, we need to increase our missile's accuracy and functionality, and one of them has been recently unveiled."
He further maintained that all the progress made in upgrading the country’s defense power has taken place in the face of all-out sanctions on Iran’s defense industry.
"We will present a plane on National Defense Industry Day, and people will see it fly, and the equipment designed for it," Brigadier General Amir Hatami said.
"After the Revolution, we witnessed enemy efforts to provoke a civil war in the country; at the same time we were involved in an imposed war with Iraq; after that, Saddam's invasion of Kuwait and the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq began, and then we experienced war with terrorist groups. These gave us so much experience," Hatami noted.
He pointed out that Iran has over 200 new technologies that help us make our defense industries indigenous and highly efficient; "we will continue our Iranian strategy of active deterrence. Islamic Republic has not attacked any country ever; we seek peace, but if any country wants to threaten our security, it will receive a crushing response. We have budget constraints but enjoy a specific strategy; as the Leader of ISlamic Revolution said, we never pursued nuclear weapons, however, we are strong in defensive capabilities."
LR/4378248