Iran has test-fired a new torpedo successfully in the ongoing
war game in the Gulf, the state television reported Monday.
The new ship-launched torpedo is capable of destroying any
vessel on and under the surface of water in any depth, said the
report, terming it as "the most dangerous naval weapon."
Monday's torpedo test was conducted during the week-long
military drill in the Gulf which started on March 31 and will last
till April 6.
Rear Admiral Mohammad Ebrahim Dehqani, spokesman for the
maneuver, told the state television that the newly test-fired
torpedo had been developed fully domestically and Iran was able to
mass-produce it.
Meanwhile, Dehqani was quoted by the official IRNA news agency
as saying that any attack against Iran's interests in the Persian
Gulf region would be "strongly responded by surface, under-surface
and air defense units and from Iranian islands and coastal
regions."
He said that one of objectives of the war game was to send
message of peace and amity to Gulf states.
The ongoing military maneuver involves over 17,000 soldiers and
1,500 naval vessels of various types and sizes, Iran's military
officials said.
The torpedo test was the latest weapon show within just a few
days in the large-scale military maneuver.
Last Friday, the Islamic Republic, which is facing heavy
pressure from the West on its nuclear program, successfully
test-fired a missile with radar-dodging and multi-targeting
capabilities.
On Sunday, Iran successfully test-fired an underwater missile
with a speed of 360 km per hour, which the Iranians said was the
fastest of its kind in the world.
Ali Fadavi, deputy navy commander of Iran's elite militia --the
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said no warship could escape
from the attack of the missile due to its speed.
Iran's ongoing military maneuver came as the country's nuclear
issue is pending further measures to be adopted by the UN Security
Council after the International Atomic Energy Agency handed
Iran'snuclear file to the Security Council on March
8.??
Tehran has been pursuing a firm stance over its nuclear issue,
saying it would never give in to pressure and bully.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that the Iranian
nation would "exercise its determination to produce nuclear energy
it needs for economic development."
The United States and Israel have threatened to launch
preemptive attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities.
In response, Iran says it will counter-attack any invasion and
it is capable of defending the country with its "deterrent power"
in the Middle East.
In February 2005, Iran launched a production line of torpedoes,
which, according to then Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani, marked
completion of "the Islamic Republic's defensive cycle at
sea."??
(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2006)
