Navy Commander: Iran to Increase Missile Power in Caspian Fleet

“This year, new missile-launching vessels will join the Navy in the Caspian Sea,” Sayyari said on the sidelines of a ceremony to deliver a 2,000-ton floating dock to the Naval forces in the Northern port city of Anzali on Thursday.

In relevant remarks in August, Sayyari announced the country’s plans to equip the naval forces with new advanced missile-launching warships.

“The Iranian Navy will be equipped with new units and equipment, including missile-launching warships, destroyers and surface and subsurface units, in the current year and next year,” Sayyari said.

He said that the new home-made naval equipment which indicates Iran’s self-sufficiency will certainly surprise the world once again.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country’s military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.