DEFENSE INDUSTRY DAY
Iran Emerges Stronger From War Vows ‘Defense Industrial Revolution’
Defense minister says Iran entered the later phase of the war considerably stronger, with increasingly advanced tactical and technical “surprises.”
TEHRAN -- Iran’s acting defense minister said Friday the country entered the later phase of its war with the United States and Israel considerably stronger than during the earlier 12-day conflict, with more advanced tactical and technical “surprises” exceeding those deployed previously.
Brigadier General Seyyed Majid Ebn-e-Reza made the remark on the occasion of the Defense Industry Day, saying Iran’s military capabilities evolved significantly during the war.
The Armed Forces, he said, achieved far greater penetration deep into enemy bases, while the number of enemy operational and reconnaissance helicopters and aircraft brought down was far greater than during the earlier conflict .
“We entered the Ramadan War considerably stronger than we had in the 12-day war, and our technical and tactical surprises were also significantly more advanced than in the previous conflict,” Ebn-e-Reza said.
He emphasized that Iran’s defense capabilities are not intended for warmongering, but to prevent war and aggression.
“We have never been and will never be the initiator of aggression against any country. We are not advocates of military aggression, but we will not allow military aggression against Iran’s territory, independence, or security,” he said.
The acting defense minister described the recent war as a major test for the Iranian people, despite its bitterness, costs and losses.
“We lost dear ones, including senior commanders, military commanders, scientists, women, and children who were unjustly martyred in this war. The loss of our martyrs is something we will never forget,” he said.
He added that alongside this tragedy, the Iranian people witnessed another profound reality: the power of national self-confidence and self-reliance.
The war demonstrated that if the Iranian people “stand on their own feet, trust their young people, harness science and technology, and remain united and cohesive, they can withstand all threats”, he aded.
Production of Advanced Weapons
Brigadier General Shahrokh Shahram, Iran’s deputy defense minister, said on Friday that the country’s production of advanced weapons continues without interruption despite the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran.
He said the enemy miscalculated Iran’s defense and military capabilities during the war and wrongly assumed that targeting a few sites linked to the Defense Ministry would cripple the country’s military production.
“The production of advanced weaponry in Iran is continuing uninterrupted,” he added.
He emphasized that Iran enjoys broad national participation in its defense industry, making it impossible for the enemy to halt military production through attacks on a limited number of facilities.
The senior Iranian defense official reiterated that the enemy received “more devastating, advanced, and larger volumes of weapons” as the war progressed, eventually realizing that its attacks on Iran’s defense industry had failed to achieve their objectives.
“We had made the necessary preparations for this war and had relocated our defense and military assets from vulnerable locations and bottlenecks, to the extent that the enemy could not even identify a single one of our missile cities,” Shahram said.
He noted that the U.S.-Israeli imposed war has generated “special momentum” in Iran’s defense industries.
“If previously production was carried out in a routine and uniform manner, it is now increasing at an astonishing and upward pace,” he said.
Shahram also said that confronting the Islamic Republic is “doomed to fail” while Iran’s adversaries must accept the country’s power and authority in the Strait of Hormuz.
Defense Industry ‘Revolution’ Based on War Lessons
In a statement marking National Defense Industry Day, Iran’s Defense Ministry said the country’s defense industry has been born from threat but has not been halted by it.
“Every pressure and every sanction made the necessity and belief in relying on domestic capacity clearer, and every battlefield opened a new opportunity for the country’s specialists,” it said.
The statement praised martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei for designing and engineering the path of defense self-reliance, based on trust in the people, especially young Iranian scientists, and the development and indigenization of knowledge and technology.
It paid tribute to commanders and specialists martyred along this path, including Mostafa Chamran and Aziz Nasirzadeh, as well as hundreds of defense ministry personnel martyred in the 12-day war and the Ramadan war.
“The recent imposed wars were the real field of testing the country’s defensive capabilities,” the statement said.
What had been built over years of Iranian expertise was put to use and, alongside the operational capacities of the armed forces and the Iranian nation, defeated a significant part of the enemy’s calculations and objectives, confounding them.
“At the same time, these wars were not only a field of confrontation; they were an opportunity to more precisely recognize capabilities, reveal new needs and map the future path. We have learned never to stop,” the ministry said, adding that the recent war was now “the past”.
“Without pride or concern, we must continuously renew, recreate and update the defense industry in accordance with these findings and lessons,” it said.
The ministry said the concept of a “defense industrial revolution” based on a national defense participation model was not limited to building a new product, but transformed ways of thinking, design, production, technology management, the use of knowledge-based capacities, smart systems and the speed of converting knowledge into defensive power.
“The experience of the recent wars showed that the stronger the bond between the nation and the armed forces, the greater the country’s capacity to confront threats and overcome crises,” the statement said.
Armed Forces Chief: Response Will Be ‘Devastating’
Major General Ali Abdollahi, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, said in a message to General Ebn-e-Reza that any miscalculation or conventional and emerging threats by Iran’s enemies will be met with revolutionary, forceful, deterrent, and devastating responses.
He described Iran’s defense industry as an “indispensable pillar of national power” and said that what has been achieved at the Ministry of Defense in recent years goes beyond the production of military equipment and represents a “deterrent defense industrial revolution”—a strategic transformation encompassing design, technology management, the defense economy, the knowledge-based supply chain, and smart production models. He said this transformation ensures success on the battlefield and represents an intelligent response to the complexities of modern and future warfare.
Abdollahi stressed that the Armed Forces, fully prepared across all domains—including land, sea, air, air defense, space, and cyberspace—will respond to any miscalculation or threats from the enemy with revolutionary, forceful, deterrent, and devastating responses.
Navy Commander: Enemy Dares Not Approach
Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, commander of Iran’s strategic navy, rejected claims that Iran’s naval forces have been destroyed, asking why the enemy has not attempted to enter the “Strait of Uhud of the Guardianship”.
He said Iranian forces have remained deployed along a line extending from the Pakistani border to Ras al-Hadd in Oman for more than 175 days.
“The soldiers of Islamic Iran are stationed in the ‘Strait of Uhud of the Guardianship’ and have not allowed the enemy to take even a single step closer to this area.”
“The Navy has a strong presence in the straits and strategically important waterways in the Persian Gulf,” he said.
The Iranian Navy “continues to defend Iran’s national interests and security in the Persian Gulf,” he stressed, adding that the Navy “is fighting the enemies with all its might and will not let them get close”.
Irani said, “It is the power and will of the people of Islamic Iran that has put the enemy in its place and grounded it, and if we possess the knowledge and the competence of knowledge-holding, we will steer the ship of the country to its rightful destination.”