TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday the country hadto develop its military forces to prevent other states taking over itsterritory and resources.
“We should make ourselves ready to fight against the military powers whowant to take over our territory and our resources,” Rouhani said in aspeech broadcast live on state television on National Defense Industry Day.
This came after Iran unveiled a new fighter jet on Tuesday, state mediareported, as tensions rise between Tehran and regional rivals overconflicts in the Middle East.
The fighter jet called Kowsar was fully domestic made, capable of carryingvarious weapons, and will be used for short aerial support missions, Tasnimnews agency said.
State television showed live pictures of a ceremony in Tehran in which thefighter jet flew in the presence of President Hassan Rouhani, a day beforethe country’s National Defense Industry Day.
Iran has sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to prop upPresident Bashar al-Assad in the country’s seven-year-long civil war.However, due to the lack of a powerful air force Iran asked Russia toprovide air power.
Iran’s air force has been limited to perhaps a few dozen strike aircraftusing either Russian or aging US models acquired before the 1979 Iranianrevolution.
Iran unveiled in 2013 what it said was a new, domestically built fighterjet, called Qaher 313, but some experts expressed doubts about theviability of the aircraft at the time.