TEHRAN (Dispatches) - Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami on Tuesday said advancing and further reinforcing the country’s missile power is a top priority of his ministry.
General Amir Hatami made the remark at a meeting with members of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis)’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy . The meeting was held after the lawmakers paid a visit to an exhibition displaying the Ministry’s latest achievements.
Hatami said the missile industry had made great strides in the area of manufacturing surface-to-surface and armor-piercing projectiles that in turn served to further invigorate the country’s ground battle prowess.
Over the past years, Iran has developed sprawling missile production sites, and has also deployed missiles against terrorist outfits threatening the country outside of the national borders. Last January, the country successfully deployed missiles against two Iraqi bases hosting U.S.-led forces in retaliation for an American drone attack that had assassinated Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.
Hatami said the field of ground battle was of special strategic importance because it served as a stabilizing and defining factor in conflict.
The Iranian defense minister identified the advancement of the country’s prowess in the fields of air defense and aerial, naval, and ground battle as the Ministry’s other priorities.
The Islamic Republic’s defense industry, he said, has met the Armed Forces’ various requirements despite the pressure that has been targeting the country in the form of “maximum and oppressive” US sanctions.
He said that despite the sanctions, the defense industry had been able to contribute know-how to the civilian sector, including the auto, oil, petrochemical, rail, telecommunications, and mining industries.
“We have been trying to deploy all the capacities on the national arena toward the creation of maximum power,” the Iranian defense minister said.