Iran unveils first domestic fighter jet at defence exhibition
TEHRAN: Iran unveiled its first domestic fighter jet yesterday, with President Hassan Rouhani insisting that Tehran’s military strength was only designed to deter enemies and create “lasting peace”.
Images on state television showed Rouhani sitting in the cockpit of the new “Kowsar” fourth- generation fighter at the National Defence Industry exhibition in Tehran.
State media said it had “advanced avionics” and multipurpose radar, and that it was “100-percent indigenously made” for the first time.
Footage of the Kowsar’s test flights was circulated by various official media.
But live footage of the plane taxiing along a runway at the defence show was cut before it could take off.
“When I speak of our readiness to defend, it means we seek lasting peace. If we lack readiness, we welcome war,” Rouhani said in a televised speech shortly after.
“Some think when we increase our military power, this means we seek war. ( But) this is peaceseeking because we don’t want war to happen,” he added.
“If we don’t have a deterrent ... it gives a green light for others to enter this country.”
The plane was first publicly announced on Saturday by Defence Minister Amir Hatami, who had said it would be unveiled on Wednesday.
He gave few details of the project, focusing instead on Iran’s efforts to upgrade its missile defences.
Hatami said the defence programme was motivated by memories of the missile attacks Iran suffered during its eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, and by repeated threats from Israel and the United States that “all options are on the table” in dealing with the Islamic republic.
“We have learned in the ( IranIraq) war that we cannot rely on anyone but ourselves,” he said in a televised interview.
The US has sold hundreds of billions of dollars of weapons to Iran’s regional rivals, but has demanded that Tehran curb its defence programmes, and is in the process of reimposing crippling sanctions in a bid to force its capitulation. — AFP