Iranian Parliament Strongly Supports Defense, Missile Industry Progress

(FNA)- The Iranian parliamentarians in a statement welcomed development of the new home-made solid-fuel precision-guided missile, Fateh 313, and underlined their strong support for the country's defensive and missile industry's further development.

"Production of high-precision and long-range missiles, production and launching satellite launchers, production of surface and subsurface warships and drones with superior capabilities and all the progresses witnessed by the dear nation were carried out when sanctions resolutions were issued against Iran one after another," the statement said on Sunday.

The Iranian legislators appreciated the defense ministry's efforts and underscored their "all-out support for equipping the country's systems and strengthening its defensive power".

They also said that the recent successful test-firing of Fateh 313 missile thwarted enemies' plots against the country.

Iran on Saturday unveiled Fateh 313 missile on the National Defense Industry Day.

The new generation ballistic missile with a range of 500 kilometers was unveiled in a ceremony attended by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran.

Fateh 313 is state-of-the-art missile which runs on combined solid fuel using a domestically-designed sensor. Fateh series of missile are among the most precise ballistic missiles. Fateh-110 had been delivered to the Iranian Armed Forces for several generations.

Iran joined the club of few countries that are capable of manufacturing solid-fuel and precision-striking missiles with a range of 500 kilometers.

According to military sources, the new missile had been previously test-fired successfully.

Iran’s Defense Ministry plans to begin the mass production of Fateh-313 soon, they said.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.

On Friday, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that the Islamic Republic of Iran would continue improving its missile systems in a bid to enhance the country's defense capabilities against enemies' possible threats.

"The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), in full compliance with Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei's orders, will continue developing its defense capabilities and military might, specially the surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, and it will not compromise when dealing with the country's defense issues," Brigadier General Hajizadeh said, addressing a ceremony in the city of Qaemshahr, Northern Iran.

Brigadier General Hajizadeh also announced Iran's plans to hold massive ballistic missiles drills in the near future.

"The IRGC Aerospace Force will hold a large-scale ballistic missiles war-games soon," Brigadier General Hajizadeh said.

He, meantime, reiterated that the IRGC Aerospace Force has successfully conducted all its missile tests over the past two years.

In March, Brigadier General Hajizadeh announced Iran planned to replace its Fateh, Qiyam and Qadr missile series with a new generation of missiles.

"We will abolish Fateh 110 missiles (a short-range, road-mobile, solid-propellant, high-precision ballistic missile with advanced navigation and control systems) as well as the mid-range (high-precision ballistic) Qiyam and Qadr (first generation of air-launched precision-guided) missiles to replace them with new missiles," Hajizadeh said in Tehran.

He referred to the unveiling of long-range ground-to-ground Soumar cruise missile system, reminding that the weapon system has been built under harsh sanctions.

Also in March Iran unveiled 'Soumar' missile system in a ceremony attended by senior military officials and commanders.

"The long-range ground-to-ground Soumar cruise missile system has been designed and built by experts of the defense ministry's aerospace industries organization," Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan told reporters after the unveiling ceremony.

Dehqan also announced the mass delivery of Qadr and Qiyam long-range ballistic missiles to the IRGC's Aerospace Force, and said these missiles are capable of destroying different types of targets under any type of conditions due to their tactical capability, sustainability in the battleground and radar-evading features.

He also announced that the defense ministry would deliver upgraded versions of these long-range and high-precision missiles to the Iranian military forces next year.

The Iranian Armed Forces have test-fired different types of newly-developed missiles and torpedoes and tested a large number of home-made weapons, tools and equipment, including submarines, military ships, artillery, choppers, aircrafts, UAVs and air defense and electronic systems, during massive military drills in the last few years.

Defense analysts and military observers say that Iran's war-games and its advancements in weapons production have proved as a deterrent factor.

Iran successfully tested second generation of Sejjil missiles and brought it into mass production in 2013.

Sejjil missiles are considered as the third generation of Iran-made long-range missiles.

Also, Iran's 2000km-range, liquid-fuel, Qadr F ballistic missile can reach territories as far as Israel.

Iran's surface-to-surface Sejjil missile, the long-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile which has a range of up to 2,000 km, and Zelzal and Fateh missiles have all been developed by the Aerospace Organization of the Defense Industries.

This is while the solid-fuel, two-stage Sejjil missile with two engines, is capable of reaching a very high altitude and therefore has a longer range than that of the Shahab 3 model.