Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari on Sunday announced that Sahand, his country’s state-of-the-art destroyer, completely “home-made,” will be launched “in the near future.”
Sahand is named after the dormant volcano by this name, one of the highest mountains in Iranian Azerbaijan.
“Sahand, as our most advanced destroyer, will soon join the naval fleet,” Sayyari said in an interview with Iranian state TV on Saturday night.
Sayyari also said that the Iranian Navy’s 45th fleet, made up of war ships, will be sent to China or Pakistan, India and Oman after the 44th flotilla returns to the country early next month, and added, “Sending fleets to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Turkey is also on agenda.”
His remarks came as the final stage of naval drills code-named ‘Velayat 95’ started by Iranian navy forces in the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman and North of the Indian Ocean.
Earlier this month, Sayyari stressed that “our strategy and doctrine is enhancement of defense power based on deterrence and we are not and will not at all think about aggression against others” but if a country thinks of aggression against Iran, it will receive such a response that will “make it regret its deeds.”
Sayyari could be referring to Israel’s fleet of six modern submarines capable of hitting Iran with nuclear missiles even after an Iranian nuclear attack against Israel.