President Hassan Rouhani said the sections of the defense industry that do not involve handling military secrets should be handed over to the private sector.
"The Defense Ministry should remain in control only of sections dealing with military secrets. Some other parts should be left to the armed forces, but the rest… should be handed over to the private sector," Rouhani said, Fars News Agency reported.
"This benefits the country's industry (sector) and armed forces," he said in a speech on the sidelines of an exhibition of defense achievements, held to mark National Defense Industry Day on Saturday.
It is necessary that the defense industry be capable of categorizing its needs and decide which ones should be outsourced, he said.
Rouhani stressed that Iran’s military power is only meant to deter potential aggressors.
“The Islamic Republic has a strategy of defense and deterrence.”
However, he said, deterrence is not all about military force and equipment and depends on some additional factors to build up.
“Deterrence is not simply a product of boosted defense and military industry. We need to increase our power in various cultural, scientific, political and economic domains as well.”
“Our goal is bolstering defense, not wagering war,” the president said, adding, “We do not and have not approved aggression. Our policy is based on efforts to resolve tension, strengthen synergy and build trust.”
He said Iran needs to boost its deterrence power to safeguard its independence and stability and ensure lasting “close” relations with the region and the world.
Highlighting the key role of Iran in promoting stability in the region, Rouhani expressed Tehran’s readiness to join forces with other regional players in the form of “coordination, cooperation or even a coalition” to restore stability to the region, plagued by terrorism and extremism.
Pursuant to the July 14 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, the United Nations Security Council issued a resolution endorsing it, terminating all its previous sanctions.
“We have not been and will not be after designing missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons,” he said, in a reiteration of Iran’s stance that it deems unbinding a provision of the UN resolution that bans for eight years any Iranian activity related to ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.
“We do not need to seek permission from anyone for the manufacture and sale of weapons,” he added.
New Missile Unveiled
A domestically designed and manufactured surface-to-surface missile with the ability to strike targets with pin-point accuracy within a range of 500 km was unveiled during the exhibition.
The Fateh 313, which runs on solid fuel, has been successfully test-fired, IRNA reported. Iran plans to begin mass production of the rocket.
