Revolutionary Guard Commander: Our 2000 km ballistic missle range is enough to harm our enemies
By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUAUpdated: OCTOBER 31, 2017 17:04A SATELLITE view of Iran's Fordow nuclear plant.(photo credit: GOOGLE)
A new nuclear power station, including two nuclear reactors, was dedicated Tuesday during a festive ceremony in the southern port city of Bushehr in Iran. The inauguration of the reactor took place in the presence of representatives of the Russian nuclear program.Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, expressed hope that within seven years his country would inaugurate the second unit at the Bushehr nuclear power station. "This is a symbol of the strategic cooperation between Russia and Iran," the Iranian official said at the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the project. "The Shura Council has enabled us to produce 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power, as part of the development plan that will end in 2025," the Fars News Agency quoted the senior official as telling reporters.Because Iran is a dry country and the construction of a large power plant requires a source of water, explained Salehi, small nuclear power stations should be established. He cited the transfer of electricity from the major plants to the rest of the country is economically inefficient.In November 2014, Iran's development companies signed two contracts, worth $10 billion, with Russian companies for the construction of power plants to produce electric energy. The capacity of the new plants will be about 2,100 megawatts.Meanwhile, Iranian National Security Council head Ali Shamkhani said that, "Iran is not prepared to discuss any part of the nuclear agreement and issues related to Iran's defense measures. Our defensive capabilities are built on an internal basis, we will not negotiate our missile program," he said.The Iranian war messages aimed at the United States also continued, by way of Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari's provocative statements. "Iranian missiles are capable of reaching all American targets in the region," Jafari said."We are capable of expanding the range of our missiles, but the current range of our ballistic missiles -- 2,000 kilometers -- is enough to harm our enemies," the senior Iranian officer told reporters at the the World Without Terror conference.President Hassan Rouhani, who met with senior officials in his country, said that "the Iranians will respond resolutely to any American attempt to spread despair in our homeland."Meanwhile, Iran began the second phase of air force drills featuring its fighter jets.