TEHRAN – The former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has said that Iran owes its deterrence capability in the face of U.S. and Israeli threats to Martyr Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam. 

Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi made the remarks during a ceremony held at the University of Tehran on Tuesday to mark the fortieth day since the martyrdom of the IRGC personnel including Major General Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam, the director of the IRGC Jihad Self-Sufficiency Organization, who were killed by two huge explosions that occurred on November 12 at an IRGC munitions depot near the town of Malard in Alborz Province. 

“The martyr developed the technology for the production of solid-fuel and liquid-fuel missiles for long ranges, so he should be named the father of Iran’s missile technology,” he said. 

He added that during the eight-year Sacred Defense (1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war), Iranian armed forces were largely reliant on foreign-made missiles, but Iran attained self-sufficiency in missile production through innovations of Tehrani Moqaddam and young Iranian engineers. 

IRGC Deputy Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami had previously said that Tehrani Moqaddam was the mainstay and architect of the IRGC’s missile program. 

He also said, “Martyr Tehrani Moqaddam was trying to find out how it is possible to hunt enemy’s moving warships in the sea using ballistic missiles.”