Tehran Friday Prayer Leader:‎

Iran leapfrogging into leading positions in various defence sectors

Ayatollah Kazem Seddiqi praised Iran’s self-sufficiency in arms sphere and said the Islamic ‎Republic has leapfrogged into leading positions in the various defence sectors.‎

News ID: 446640

Date: 17 August 2019 - 10:02

RNA – Addressing a congregation of worshippers in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah Seddiqi ‎pointed to the National Day of the Defence Industry, which would be celebrated on ‎Thursday, August 22, and said one of the “miracles” of the 1979 Islamic Revolution is “what ‎we see in the defence industry, which has impressed the world.”‎

‎“We have had leaped toward the summit of various defence sectors,” the cleric said, adding, ‎‎“What you saw in the shooting down of the American stealth drone is an example of that.”‎

‎“The missile (that hit the US drone) was an Islamic and indigenous one, although they (IRGC ‎forces) could have hit the drone with an S-300 missile,” he noted.‎

The remarks came against the backdrop of increased tensions between Iran and the US ‎after the Islamic Republic shot down an advanced US spy drone over its territorial waters.‎

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on June 20 that a US spy drone that ‎violated the Iranian territorial airspace in the early hours of the day was shot down by the ‎IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defence unit near the Kuh-e-Mobarak region in the southern ‎province of Hormozgan.‎

The intruding drone was reportedly shot by Iran’s homegrown air defence missile system ‎‎“Khordad-3.”‎

Later on the same day, US President Donald Trump said he had called off a retaliatory attack ‎on a number of targets in Iran and said that he was ready to speak with Iranian leaders and ‎come to an understanding that would allow the country to improve its economic prospects. ‎‎“What I’d like to see with Iran, I’d like to see them call me.”‎

‎“I look forward to the day where we can actually help Iran. We’re not looking to hurt Iran,” ‎Trump added.‎

However, on June 24 Trump announced new sanctions against top Iranian officials, including ‎the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, ‎Iran’s Foreign Minister, and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ‎‎(IRGC).‎

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