Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, an advisor to the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in defence affairs, said the country’s missile power is a key element of deterrence in the country, and the officials of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly stated this.
“This does not mean that we cannot produce missiles with higher ranges, but this is not our policy. We do not see a threat to increase the range of missiles,” Dehqan said in a Farsi interview with Mehr News Agency.
He added that the United States, Saudi Arabia, the Israeli regime and their regional allies are seeking to restrict Iran’s defence capability, and they are trying to have the EU along themselves in introducing Iran’s missile power as a threatening element.
“But they must know that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s defence policy is based on effective deterrence. Among the weapons and capabilities we have, the surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missile power is one of the country’s top priorities. We need to work on them as much as possible to confront possible threats because we do believe that attempts to defend our country and increasing our defence power is a legitimate right of ours.”
General Dehqan went on to say that every country must have the ability to defend itself, so that it can safeguard its identity, territory and establishment.
“If any country wants to threaten our country, we will stand against it using all our power,” he stressed.
He further maintained that “We do not need any endorsement from the United States and its allies to defend our country. Based on Iran’s historical experience, the defence capability guarantees our national security. All the world saw that during the 8 years of imposed war all the facilities and equipment were provided for Iraq, but Iran did not receive any facilities.”
Dehqan underscored that the country’s missile program will continue to be implemented with no procrastination, delay or suspension.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the senior military official noted that the economic warfare and the Iranophobia project are being pursued by the enemies very seriously.
“They want to introduce Iran as a country that destabilizes the region and the world, and naturally our defensive power as a deterrent and security element is one of the issues that the West wants to curtail.”
Dehqan also mentioned that during the 8-year war and after that the West did not have any interaction with Iran in the technical, defence and military spheres.
“What we have achieved in the field of defence and security is the result of the efforts of our own scientists, engineers and experts. In other words, what we have gained in the defence and military sectors is the result of reliance on domestic capabilities and the efforts of our own specialists to reach a point that we would not need other countries, and in this way they cannot impose pressure on us,” concluded Dehqan.
