TEHRAN 2 Sep (ANA) - Iran is planning to increase its missile capacity and acquire modern fighter jets and submarines as part of efforts to expand its defence capabilities, a senior official has said.

 

Mohammad Ahadi, Iran's deputy defence minister for international affairs, made the announcement in a speech to a group of foreign military attaches, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Saturday.

 

"Increasing ballistic and cruise missile capacity ... and the acquisition of next-generation fighters and heavy and long-range vessels and submarines with various weapons capabilities are among the new plans of this ministry," he said in the capital, Tehran.

 

His comments came a day after Tehran rejected a French call for negotiations on future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in ongoing regional conflicts, in the wake of a decision by the United States to withdraw from a multinational nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions against it.

 

Earlier this week, Iranian lawyers asked the International Court of Justice to order the US to lift the sanctions, saying the measures - which are damaging Iran's already weak economy - violate terms of a little-known 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries.

 

In his address, Ahadi said the sanctions had not slowed the development of the country's arms industry. 

 

"We have the necessary infrastructure and what we need to do is research and development, and at the same time upgrade and update the defence industry while relying on the country's very high scientific capabilities and tens of thousands of graduates in technical fields and engineering," he was quoted as saying by IRNA. 

 

He also defended Iran's actions in Syria and Iraq, saying they were central to defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as ISIL or ISIS) armed group.(ANA)

FA/ANA/2 September 2018---