TEHRAN – Iran is among the world’s top five producers of destroyers and vessels, deputy minister for defense and logistics affairs told a conference on Tuesday.

During the one-day conference themed “Explaining the Doctrine of Resistance” and hosted by the University of Tabriz, Brigadier General Amir Rastegari said today the Defense Ministry is capable of producing a plethora of military equipment, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

He also announced that Fateh submarine will join the Navy’s fleet soon.

Rastegari, also head of the Maritime Industries Organization, said, “It is an honor for the armed forces that all defense equipment are produced inside the country.”

“Today, all doctrines and policies are focused on promoting capabilities in the defense sector,” the top military official remarked.

“We have reached self-sufficiency in producing all types of destroyers, as well as flying and radar-evading boats,” he said, noting that the Defense Ministry attaches high significance to innovation to improve the country’s industrial and scientific capabilities.

Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headways in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sphere.

In a meeting with Navy commanders earlier this month, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised as “great and fabulous” the advances that the military forces, the Navy in particular, have made since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He said the Navy’s success in bringing into service homegrown vessels such as the Sahand destroyer or Fateh and Qadir submarines heralds more progress day after day.

SP/PA