TEHRAN - Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Headquarters Major General Gholam Ali Rashid on Tuesday urged the Iranian Armed Forces to make major strides in boosting the country’s defensive technology and military weaponry to such an extent that would catch the Islamic Republic’s enemies off guard.
“You are advised to make great strides towards producing weapons [that are equipped] with advanced technologies and surprising capabilities to confront the enemy,” Major General Gholam-Ali Rashid said.
The headquarters serves as the country’s topmost military operational outpost. It is tasked with devising, coordinating, and overseeing the Armed Forces’ operational activities.
The commander made the remarks at an important meeting with the country’s newly-appointed defense minister, Brigadier General Muhammad-Reza Ashtiani. Other ranking officials from the headquarters and their deputies were in attendance at the meeting.
Rashid, meanwhile, voiced delight over Ashtiani’s appointment as defense minister.
He expressed gratitude towards Ashtiani for the quality of his “style of management and the premium state of interaction” with the whole range of the commanders of the Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), in the past when the defense chief used to serve in various other capacities.
“I hope for the enhancement of the level of interactions between the Army and the Corps during your incumbency at the Defense Ministry,” Rashid stated.
He further advised the Armed Forces to center their efforts towards obtaining more advanced weaponry on a “revolutionary approach that is in line with realization of the far-sighted visions” of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s military top brass and senior political leadership have invariably insisted that the country would never be the party to initiate any act of incursion.
However, they have also warned at the same time that the Armed Forces would deliver intense and “regret-inducing” responses within moments of any such incursion against Iran.
Such response, they insist, would cause potential aggressors far greater damage than they could have ever wanted to afflict on the Islamic Republic.

Iran to Manufacture New Large Warship, Destroyers

Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi has said that the Navy is gearing up for more missions in oceans, days after a flotilla of warships returned home from an Atlantic mission.
The 75th flotilla of military vessels, including Sahand destroyer and Makran forward base ship,
returned to Iran on September 9 after a mission that lasted 133 days. It has sailed 45,000 kilometers in three oceans, passing by 55 countries in three continents.
According to the Army chief, the Navy has plans to manufacture a new forward base ship similar to Makran as well as new destroyers for future overseas operations.
Major General Mousavi also said that Iran has gained such experience in manufacturing military vessels that it can make new destroyers and naval equipment in the shortest time possible.
The new homegrown destroyers would be equipped with upgraded systems, he noted, saying the naval units must be furnished with advanced gear fit for missions in all oceans.