TEHRAN, Jun. 18 (MNA) – A host of ranking military officials of the Islamic Republic, including Navy’s first-in-command, have praised the new cruise missile test on Thursday.

Making the remarks on the sidelines of a drill on Thursday in which new home-made coast-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles were test-fired, Deputy Coordinator of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari described the missiles as a “promising step in enhancing defense and deterrence power”.

Iran continues the path of self-sufficiency in the defense sector by relying on its own experts despite all cruel sanctions, he said, terming the successful test-fire of the long-range cruise missile as a “sign of significant progress in increasing cohesion between armed forces and defense industry”.

Meanwhile, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said that “obtaining this new domestic achievement by the Iranian youth shows Iran’s upper hand in confronting any threat against people and the establishment and also it has enhanced the self-confidence of the armed forces.”

Also, Deputy of Iran's Defense Minister Ghasem Taghizadeh said that the Ministry spare no effort in supporting and improving the defense capability of Iranian armed forces through designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art equipment.

In a military exercise dubbed as ‘brave martyrs of Ramadan’ in the north of the Indian Ocean and Sea of Oman on Thursday, the Navy has test-fired short- and long-range naval cruise missiles, according to a statement by the force.

According to the statement, surface-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles, with different ranges, were simultaneously fired from the coastline and naval combatant ship and managed to hit the target with high precision. The missiles destroyed the target from 280km away while the range can be enhanced, noted the statement.

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