IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has visited Tehran where he held “very fruitful” talks his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Amir Hatami, saying they exchanged views on regional security and bilateral ties.

In a tweet on Sunday, Singh posted pictures of his meeting with Hatami in Tehran, saying the two sides had also discussed the situation in Afghanistan.

In another tweet, the Indian defense minister’s office said the meeting between Singh and Hatami took place in “a cordial and warm atmosphere,” adding both officials “emphasized upon the age-old cultural, linguistic and civilizational ties between India and Iran.”

Singh traveled to Tehran after concluding his three-day visit to Moscow, where he held talks with his counterparts from Russia, China and the Central Asian states.

Singh on Sunday said he discussed with his Iranian counterpart ways to bolster bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional security issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.

Singh reached Tehran from Moscow on Saturday on a transit halt after concluding his three-day visit to Russia where he attended a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defense ministers. He also held bilateral talks with his counterparts from Russia, China and the Central Asian countries.

“Had a very fruitful meeting with Iranian defense minister Brigadier General Hatami in Tehran. We discussed regional security issues including Afghanistan and the issues of bilateral cooperation,” he said in a tweet.

“Both the Defense Ministers discussed ways to take forward bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional security issues, including peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Singh’s office said in a separate tweet on the meeting held on Saturday at the request of the Iranian defense minister.

The meeting between the two ministers took place in a “cordial and warm atmosphere,” it said, adding that the leaders emphasized upon the age-old cultural, linguistic and civilizational ties between India and Iran.

Singh’s visit to Iran is considered to be significant as it came a day after he voiced India’s deep concern about the situation in the Persian Gulf and called upon the countries in the region to resolve their differences through dialogue based on mutual respect.

A series of incidents in the Persian Gulf involving Iran, the U.S. and the UAE in recent weeks have flared up tension in the region.

“We are deeply concerned about the situation in the Persian Gulf,” Singh said in his address at a meeting of the SCO in Moscow on Friday.

“We call upon countries in the region – all of which are dear and friendly to India, to resolve differences by dialogue based on mutual respect, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of each other,” he said in his address at the combined meeting of defense ministers of the SCO, Collective Security Treaty Organization and Commonwealth of Independent States member states.

India-Iran commercial ties were traditionally dominated by Indian import of Iranian crude oil. In 2018-19 India imported USD 12.11 billion worth of crude oil from Iran.

However, following the end of the Significant Reduction Exemption (SRE) period on May 2, 2019, India has suspended importing crude from Iran, according to the Indian Embassy here.

The post Indian DM in Tehran to Discuss Bilateral Ties , Regional Security appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a weekly cabinet session on Wednesday, General Hatami emphasized that all of the missiles in Iran, which he described as a key component of the Islamic Republic’s defense power, are manufactured only with conventional warheads.

He said the powerful missiles are also very precise, adding that the US has experienced the precision of the Iranian missiles very well after the recent strike targeting the Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq.

The minister also categorically rejected the US claim that Iran is honing its ballistic missile skills through the launch of satellites, stressing that launching satellites has nothing to do with the country’s missile program.

The minister explained that Iran’s recent launch of Zafar satellite with the homegrown satellite carrier Simorgh was completely irrelevant to the country’s missile program. “We might use a satellite for defense purposes, but the subject of satellite carriers is totally non-defensive, and it is the Iranian nation’s inalienable and definite right (to develop them).”

The defense minister also emphasized that the Simorgh satellite carrier is part of a research program, saying the research in this field will go on until Iran achieves the desired results.

Although the homegrown satellite could not finish the orbit insertion phase, the bulk of the research targets were achieved after the launch.

Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi has announced that the Zafar-II satellite will be launched in the Iranian month of Khordad (May/June 2020).

The post Iran Missiles Have Conventional Warheads, Defense Minister Says appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Overhauled Helicopters Back to Army appeared first on Iran News Daily.

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran missile power has been already proven to its enemies, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said on Tuesday.

The post Iran missile power proven to enemies appeared first on Iran News Daily.

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian Defense Minister warned the enemies that a crushing response awaits any aggression against the country.

The post Crushing response is our defense, warns Hatami appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In an address to a conference on quality standards of the Armed Forces, held in Tehran on Thursday, General Hatami said Iran possesses all the components of power and the necessary determination to respond to any act of aggression.

Iran will combat any threat at any level with its high-quality defensive arms, the minister added.

He also described Iran’s recent missile attack on a US military airbase in Iraq, carried out in retaliation for the American assassination of top Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani, as meeting a public demand, saying the US would have become ruder and repeated its criminal acts if such a missile attack had not taken place.

“The hard slap in the face from the (Iranian) Armed Forces in targeting the Americans’ base was given at the highest level of standards in terms of the timing, quality and accuracy of the missiles in pin-point targeting,” the minister said.

On January 8, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched a missile attack on Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, in retaliation for the US assassination of Lt. General Soleimani.

Fifteen missiles rained down on the American base, none of which were intercepted by the US army’s radar systems.

The post Iran Able to Counter Any Threat appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Hatami rejected reports that Iran may have been behind Saturday’s attacks on Saudi company Aramco’s oil processing facilities.

“It is crystal clear. A clash has occurred between two countries. One side of the clash are the Yemenis, who have announced explicitly that they have done the job,” the minister said.

He added that the logic behind the Yemeni drone strike is quite clear, because the Yemenis have been suffering from harsh military attacks by the Saudi-led coalition for years and have been in critical condition under a blockade imposed by the Saudis.

“In military terms, the Yemenis had carried out a similar operation around two years ago, and had attacked an airport in the United Arab Emirates and fired a missile with a range of 1,200 kilometers,” the Iranian general said.

The US has accused Iran of involvement in the attack, alleging that a number of cruise missiles have been fired from Iran at the Saudi targets. Iran vehemently denies the claim.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

Official UN figures say that more than 15,000 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began.

The Saudi war has impacted over seven million children in Yemen who now face a serious threat of famine, according to UNICEF figures. Over 6,000 children have either been killed or sustained serious injuries since 2015, UN children’s agency said. The humanitarian situation in the country has also been exacerbated by outbreaks of cholera, polio, and measles.

The post Defense Minister Refutes Allegation of Iran’s Role in Saudi Oil Attacks appeared first on Iran News Daily.

He called on international bodies to react against such hostile acts which put international peace in danger.

Hatami also stressed that the Iranian armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any act of aggression with a decisive and severe response.

On July 9 and during a visit to air force base,  Israeli regime’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Tehran that the regime’s F-35 fighter jets can reach “anywhere in the Middle East.”

“Iran should remember that these planes can reach every place in the Middle East, including Iran, and of course also Syria,” said Netanyahu.

The post MoD Hatami vows ‘harsh response’ to any aggression against Iranian soil appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The Iranian minister called the UK’s move an act of ‘marine piracy’.

Iran has carried out extensive missions in the fight against piracy, Hatami said, adding “we will not put up with this act of marine piracy by the UK.”

On early Thursday morning, British Royal Marines in Gibraltar stormed the 300,000-tonne Grace 1 and detained it, accusing it of carrying oil to Syria in possible violation of the European Union’s sanctions on the war-torn Arab country.

According to Gibraltar authorities, the 28 crewmembers, who are nationals of India, Pakistan and Ukraine, are currently staying aboard the tanker, along with local police and customs officers boarding the vessel for a period of a probe.

Iran has condemned the move as “maritime piracy” and summoned Britain’s ambassador in protest over it.

“The Haidar-class vessels enjoy high maneuverability in stormy seas, which was implemented by experts at the Defense Ministry’s Marine Industries Organization,” said Minister of Defense Amir Hatami at the ceremony.

The ‘Haidar-class’ vessels, with a marine grade aluminum body, enjoy a high hydro-dynamic capability and stability in stormy seas, and are built with features of SAR (Search and Rescue) and self-righting vessels in mind. The Haidar-class vessels are able to avoid sinking even at a high rolling angle of 180 degrees, and will be used for search and rescue, as well as marine patrol missions to ensure the safety of the Iranian waterways, he added.

The technologies used in the vessels can be employed in developing other projects such as water ambulances, fireboats, patrols, combating smuggling, coast guard vessels, and vessels with military missions, he said.

He also maintained that Iran has high capability in maritime sector, and the security of the region is of high importance to the country.

The post We won’t stand UK’s maritime piracy, says Iran’s MoD appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Developed by the Defense Ministry’s experts, it was formally delivered to the Air Defense Force of the Army.

In comments at the event, General Hatami said the new air defense system has been paired with the Sayyad-3 long-range missiles and is capable of detecting various targets, including warplanes and intruding drones, within a range of 150 kilometers and tracking them at a range of 120 kilometers.

According to the minister, the system can also detect stealth targets within a range of 85 kilometers and hit them in a range of 45 kilometers.

It is capable of intercepting 6 targets simultaneously, the minister said, adding that its ease of mobility would allow servicemen to prepare the air defense system for engagement in less than 5 minutes.

The general said that the air defense system is equipped with a phased array radar and independent launch pads and can effectively take action against various aerial targets, such as reconnaissance aircraft, bombers and tactical warplanes.

The minister went on to say that the Khordad 15th can be operated for shooting down targets at a maximum height of 27 kilometers and within a range of 75 kilometers.

Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headways in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the defense sphere.

Iran maintains that its military might poses no threat to regional countries, stressing that the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.

The post Iran unveils new air defense missile system appeared first on Iran News Daily.