Iran plans to boost its ballistic and cruise missile capacity and acquire modern fighter planes and submarines, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted as saying on Saturday.
“Increasing ballistic and cruise missile capacity and the acquisition of new generation fighters and heavy and long-range vessels and submarines with various weapons capabilities is on the ministry agenda,” said Mohammad Ahadi, deputy defense minister for international affairs, IRNA said.
Speaking to Tehran-based foreign military attaches, Ahadi said sanctions had not hampered the development of Iran’s arms industry.
“We have the necessary infrastructure and what we need to do is expand R&D and update the defense industry by relying on our own scientific capacities and tens of thousands of graduates in technical fields and engineering,” Ahadi said.
He defended Iran’s role in conflicts in Iraq and Syria, saying, “If Iran and its allies in Syria and Iraq had not stopped Daesh [Islamic State], today the map of the region would be different and the world would face terrible challenges.”
News of the missile development plans came a day after Iran dismissed a French call for negotiations on Tehran’s future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in wars in Syria and Yemen, following the US pullout from the nuclear agreement.
US President Donald Trump in May decided to withdraw from the historic accord and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
Senior officials have warned that the country will not succumb to a renewed US campaign to strangle Iran’s vital oil exports. They say the country’s missile program is solely for defense needs and is not negotiable.
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