Air Defense Chief Stresses Defensive Nature of Iran’s Military Doctrine

A senior Iranian military commander emphasized the country’s defensive doctrine in its military strategy, but meantime stressed that Iran’s armed forces are completely ready to counter any probable attack against the country’s nuclear facilities.

“Our doctrine is defensive, so if any threat is carried out against Iran, we will defend the country immediately and deliver a decisive response,” Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli said on Friday.

Esmayeeli said that every country has an “inalienable right” to defend itself against aggression, and added, “We promise that if our nuclear facilities come under attack, the enemies will not get away with it unharmed.”

The Iranian commander said that the Islamic Republic is always ready to counter threats and “the more the enemy threatens us, the more prepared we will become”.

Esmayeeli pointed out that Iranians will defend their peaceful nuclear facilities with their lives.

The US and its close ally, Israel, accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.

Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Both Israel and the US have recently intensified rhetoric against Iran, saying an attack on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear site is impending.

Iran has, in return, warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv.

Iran has also warned that it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if it became the target of a military attack over its nuclear program.

Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the strategic Persian Gulf waterway, is a major oil shipping route. An estimated 40 percent of the world’s oil supply passes through the waterway.

In the meantime, the Iranian Armed Forces recently test-fired different types of newly-developed missiles and torpedoes and tested a large number of its home-made weapons, tools and equipments, including submarines, military ships, artillery, choppers, aircraft, UAVs and air defense and electronic systems, in a series of massive military drills.

Defense analysts and military observers say that Iran’s wargames and its advancements in weapons production have proved as a deterrent factor, specially at a time of heightened threats by the US.