News / Interviews

Iran building up naval power to deter foreign invasion: Commentator

Saturday, 01 December 2018 1:19 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 01 December 2018 1:23 PM ]

The Iranian Navy has launched a domestically-built destroyer in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas. (Photo by Tasnim News Agency)

Iran has been building up its naval power in recent years in an attempt to deter any kind of foreign invasion, says a political commentator, adding that such a development matters a lot to a country which is always under threat from the United States and its allies.

“Iran’s naval power matters a lot for the country as it is located in a very sensitive region and … highly sensitive waters called the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz that happens to be the energy life line of the world,” Mostafa Khoshcheshm told Press TV in an interview on Saturday.

“For a country like Iran that’s been always under various kinds of threats by Washington and its allies including the war in the 1980s by Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator and now we know according to leaks from the CIA … that the United States has been helping Saddam Hussein with various types of weapon systems, information, intelligence … This was happening when Iran was under tight sanctions in the 1980s and Iran was forced to develop its own arms program and ever since then Tehran has tried hard in order to develop a deterrence might and power to deter any kind of foreign invasion and it has been successful so far,” he added.

Iran has launched its most advanced military vessel which has radar-evading stealth properties and can sustain voyages lasting five months without resupply.

The vessel has a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare capabilities.

The Sahand is the third of Mowj-class frigates built by Iran after the Jamaran and the Damavand, but its enhanced operational capabilities and size make it twice stronger in terms of offensive and defensive features.

Iran launched its first locally-made destroyer in 2010 as part of a program to revamp its navy equipment in the face of sanctions which have barred the country from importing many weapons.

Since 1992, the country has manufactured its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines, unmanned aerial vehicles, and fighter planes.