Senior Official:

Iran Able to Build Intercontinental Missiles

Date: 27 April 2016 - 21:40

News ID: ۲۶۰۷۰

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- A senior Iranian diplomat says the country’s scientific power has made it capable of producing inter-continental missiles, stressing that Iran’s military doctrine is based on defense.
"Our country’s power is increasing, and today we have no restrictions in defense fields, as in our missile program, we have no technical limits anymore,” Hamid Baeidinejad said in remarks published on the Basirat website.
Baeidinejad is the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s director general for political affairs and the Basirat website is affiliated to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
"Today, our scientific power has provided us the opportunity to even produce intercontinental missiles,” he said.
"Unlike the military policies of other countries in the region and major powers in the world, our military doctrine is not after an escalation of threats in the region or the world,” Baeidinejad said.
He noted that Iran’s military power is aimed at neutralizing enemy threats, and is defined "within the framework of the defensive doctrine.”
The high-ranking diplomat further said that Iran’s enemies are "seeking to pit military elements of the country’s security against its economic elements” by making the country’s defense progress costly.
"Therefore, against the will of the enemy, we should make efforts to progress the two parts and make them fit well together.”
Baeidinejad, who was addressing a gathering of IRGC experts, said the "unparalleled” experiences of the IRGC in various fields of security have made it distinct from other countries’ armed forces.
"The IRGC, as the backbone of the country’s military security since the Islamic Revolution and the Iraqi-imposed war on Iran and as a historical necessity for the continued existence of the country, has had a matchless role in ensuring the security of the country,” he said.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hussein Dehqan said no power can stop the country from continuing to improve its defense capabilities
"Iran… with the aim of attaining its objectives and securing national interests will be taking steps at the highest levels for the military equipment of its armed forces," he told the 2016 Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) in Moscow.
"And no will or organization will be able to stand on the way and obstruct the development and upsurge of the defense capability, especially missile defense capability of Iran,” he further said.
General Dehqan added, "Iran focuses on production capacities, as well as on partnership, cooperation, and will continue rigorously pursuing its programs."
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian commander said the Islamic Republic has never attacked any country, deploring any "aggression” against sovereign states.
"Iran has never made and will not make threats to security interests of other countries and condemns aggression and use of force against sovereign states.”
The Iranian defense minister left Tehran for Moscow on Tuesday to attend the MCIS at the official invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
He was scheduled to discuss development of military cooperation between Iran and Russia during a meeting with Shoigu on the sidelines of the two-day event.
The fifth Moscow international security conference kicked off on Wednesday with a focus on fighting terrorism and expansion of international convergence and cooperation on confronting the threat.
Over 500 military and political figures, including 17 defense ministers and 14 deputy defense ministers from across the world attended the conference.
Iranian Policemen Killed
In a separate development, three Iranian police forces were killed in an attack carried out by armed gangs in the southeastern part of the country.
The forces lost their lives on Tuesday after armed gangs launched a raid on a police checkpoint in the town of Khash in Sistan-and-Baluchestan Province, which borders Pakistan.
"Efforts are continuing to arrest the armed gangs,” provincial police chief Brigadier General Hussein Rahimi said on Wednesday.