Cleric Describes Deterrence as Iran's Main Defense Strategy


Cleric Describes Deterrence as Iran's Main Defense Strategy

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The deterrent power of Iran’s armed forces is the most important aspect of the Iranian defense strategy, said Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, adding that the country's missile industries deter the enemies from carrying out any aggression against it.

Iran’s missile industries have created a deterrent force, and made the enemies shy away from carrying out any aggression against the country, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami who was speaking at a memorial service held for late General Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam, the founder of Iran's ballistic missile program, said on Tuesday morning.

“Beyond doubt if it were not for the Islamic Iran’s might, America had thus far many times launched military attack (against Iran),” he added.
He also said that had it not been due to the deterrent power of the Iranian missiles, the “Americans’ chained dog Israel” would also have hit Iran, quoting an expression used earlier by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

“Your 2,000 kilometer missile is the perennial nightmare of your enemies, and when the Supreme Leader said in Mashhad that if the Zionist regime made the slightest mistake (against Iran) we would raze both Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground, that is thanks to the wisdom of such dear martyrs as Tehrani Moqaddam,” he said.

The remarks by Ayatollah Khatami came months after Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said that Iran will raze Tel Aviv to the ground if Israel launches a military strike against the Islamic Republic.

“Israel’s leaders sometimes threaten Iran, but they know that if they do a damn thing, the Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and (the occupied city of) Haifa to the ground,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in an address to large crowds of people in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on the occasion of the Iranian new year on March 21.

General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam (died November 12, 2011) was an engineer and has been described as the chief of Iran’s ballistic missile program and a top Iranian missile commander. He was killed in an explosion at a Revolution Guards Corps depot about 25 miles west of Iran's capital, Tehran, that killed 16 others besides Moqaddam.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems, including military vessels, aircraft, missiles, tanks, armored vehicles, submarines, radars, and air defense systems, among others.

Tehran has frequently announced that its military might is entirely based on the nation's defense doctrine of deterrence and poses no threat to other countries.

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