TEHRAN - The Commander of the Air Defense Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Brigadier General Ali Reza Sabahi Fard, underlined Iran’s advanced position in the world in terms of building military equipment.

In his statement on Monday on the sidelines of his visit to the air defense region in southwest ran, Brigadier General Sabahi Fard stressed that the country's air defense is advancing every day, Al Alam reported.

“The current conditions of air defense cannot be compared to the eight years of the Sacred Defense [Iran-Iraq war], not even to yesterday.”

He added, “The role of air defense during the Imposed War was important and prominent, and no operation was carried out except in coordination and under the umbrella of air defense.”

He noted, “During the recent period, we showed the world a strong and proud achievement regarding the ‘Bavar 373’ missile defense system. Iran is the first in the world in terms of 100% homemade equipment. It is remarkable to increase the range of the system to more than 300 km. One or two countries claimed that they had equipment of this power and could do it, but we launched the missile and proved that we can in practice.”

The commander said, “This path continues and will not stop. The great powers are fading away one by one. Of course, America is not a superpower, it is a criminal. There is a lot of killing, looting, aggression and violence in the file of America and the hateful Zionist entity.”

In early November, Iran unveiled two big military achievements in a matter of two days, accelerating the development of military capabilities in space and missile defense systems.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force successfully test-launched a domestically-built space launch vehicle called Qaem-100, which uses a solid-propellant engine and can carry satellites weighing 80 kg into an orbit of 500 kilometers away from the Earth. The new SLV is expected to be used in launching another space achievement soon.

According to Iranian media, Qaem-100 will put Nahid, a satellite manufactured by the Iranian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, into space in the near future. A day after the unveiling of Qaem-100, the Iranian Ministry of Defense unveiled an upgraded version of Bavar-373.

The new missile defense system was unveiled in the presence of Minister of Defense, Mohammad Reza Ashtiyani, and Sabahi Fard.

The Bavar-373 missile defense system can detect stationary targets at a range of 450 km and strike them within a range of 300 km. The upgraded system has been equipped with a new missile called Sayad B-4, which enjoys a solid-propellant engine and has been tested for the first time. The recent unveilings of military achievements grabbed global attention as Iran has not been announcing new military achievements for some time.

Iran has been improving its military capabilities in various fields.