Iran President Hassan Rouhani sits in cockpit of Kowsar domestic fighter jet in Tehran (AFP/file photo)
Iran plans to increase its ballistic and cruise missile capacity and acquire modern fighter planes and submarines, the Iranian state news agency IRNA cited a senior Defence Ministry official as saying on Saturday.
News of the military development plans came the same day Tehran rejected a Reuters report saying it had moved missiles into Iraq, following the US pullout from Tehran's nuclear agreement with world powers.
Tehran is furious over US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord on Iran's nuclear programme and re-impose economic sanctions on Tehran, Reuters said.
Iranian officials have warned the country will not yield to a renewed US campaign to strangle Iran's vital oil exports. They say the country's missile programme is solely for defence purposes and is not negotiable as demanded by the US and European countries.
Iran placing missiles in Iraq in message to U.S., Israel, sources say https://t.co/pjdxJzQ5wl
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) August 31, 2018
State media also reported the launch earlier this week of war games involving 150,000 volunteer Basij militia members, who vowed to defend the Islamic state against "foreign threats" including its arch foe, the United States.
"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," said Mohammad Ahadi, deputy defence minister for international affairs, IRNA reported.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier on Twitter that he was "deeply concerned" by reports that Iran was transferring ballistic missiles into Iraq.
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Iranian, Iraqi and Western sources had told Reuters that Iran has transferred ballistic missiles to Shia proxies in Iraq over the last few months and is developing the capacity to build more there.
The Times of Israel said yesterday that Iran had deployed medium-range missiles with Iraq's Shia militias that are capable of hitting Israel, and that in Syria a clandestine surface-to-surface missile facility at Wadi Jahanamm will likely be completed by early 2019.
Together, the missile threats represent a creeping power-play by Tehran at the same time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Jerusalem will continue to act against such threats, the Times said.
Still, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi was quoted by IRNA as saying: "Such false and ridiculous news has no purpose other than affecting Iran's foreign relations, especially with its neighbours."
He added: "This news is solely aimed at creating fears in the countries of the region."
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