Iran to produces ballistic missiles in all ranges- Defense Minister

Iran's Defense Minister said that Iran would produce ballistic missiles in all ranges.

Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan said that "our missile producing program continues based on Iran's defense needs as well as threats", Mehr News Agency reported August 21.

He said that the US and Zionism's (Israel) threats and plot over Iran has been continuing as in past. He added that Iran's military doctrine in both structure and is equipment fields is totally passive defense and Iran dose not intend to intervene in any country, however the country will respond to any intervention by “determinative and regretting action” from air, land and sea.

Dehgan said the military sphere in Iran is totally domestic and Iran has no need of foreign help or technology in this regard, especially in designing and producing defense systems.

His statement comes after an IRGC commander announced Aug.21 that Iran will continue producing long-range ballistic missiles.

RGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced Aug.21 that a huge ballistic missile exercise would be carried out in the near future, Fars News Agency reported.

According to the report, there have been rumors that the IRGC has stopped developing ballistic missiles, or the tests have been halted, or Iran's military program has been compromised (in nuclear talks), but the IRGC has been keeping its activities the same as in the past.

Hajizadeh said that the IRGC has achieved "great progress" over the past two years.

Iranian diplomats who reached the deal with the six world powers called the group P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) refer to this point and say since Iran has no plan to build nuclear-related missiles, its missile program is not restricted by the deal.

Some critics inside Iran however believe that the US could claim any sort of missile developed by Iran is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, thus putting strict limits on the country’s missile program.

The US has already considered some old versions of Iranian-made missiles such as the Shahab series capable of being equipped with nuclear warheads.

/By Trend/