Iranian politician says country to unveil its own ‘S-300’ missile system
Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal: We’ll check Iran’s imperial ambitions in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMONIranian military parade showcasing missiles(photo credit: REUTERS)
A senior Iranian politician said on Tuesday that Iran is going to present a domestically manufactured “S-300”-type missile defense system in place of the one that Russia has yet to deliver.“The Iran-made ‘S-300’ system will be unveiled by the Defense Ministry and armed forces’ engineers soon and will be tested before the eyes of everyone,” parliament Security Committee chairman Mohammad Reza Mohseni Sani told Iran’s Fars News Agency.The Iranian politician expressed hope that the Russian’s would fulfill their commitment and deliver the S-300 system.Iranian Defense Minister Brig.-Gen. Hossein Dehqan announced last month that the country would be testing its own version of the Russian system, called Bavar 373, Fars reported.Meanwhile, Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj.- Gen.Muhammad Ali Jafari said on Wednesday at a ceremony addressing cadets in the presence of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Iran’s enemies better understand the language of force.“Today, the Islamic Iran’s pride and might has made the world’s biggest materialistic and military powers kneel down before the Islamic Republic’s might,” Jafaris told Fars.“The military option that the Westerners speak of constantly is ridiculous and they know that if the military option could have produced any result, they would have already used it many times, and today they have shifted their focus to other types of threat and to the soft war front,” he said.Separately, Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, who has previously served as head of Saudi Intelligence and Riyadh’s ambassador to Washington and London but is no longer a government official, said that Iran would not be allowed to continue its interference in Arab affairs, the Arab News website reported on Wednesday.“As we are dealing with Yemen, Iran’s imperial ambitions will be checked in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq,” Prince Turki said in a speech that was read out in his absence by Prince Faisal bin Saud bin Abdul Mohsin at the 40th Anniversary celebrations of Arab News in Riyadh on Monday.“We, as Arab and Muslim nations, must become more self-reliant to secure our borders, pursue our interests. For God helps those who help themselves,” he added.
In other news, a delegation from Afghanistan’s Taliban arrived in Tehran on Monday to hold talks with security officials, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported. The delegation included members from the Taliban’s political bureau in Qatar.Reuters contributed to this report.
