Iran has one of the largest and most sophisticated defence industries in the Middle East, and has created a wide range of short, medium and long-range missile systems which officials say serve to guarantee regional security and prevent foreign aggression. The US and its allies have repeatedly sought to rein in these missile systems via a treaty.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will work with the country's defence ministry to improve the country's missile power further, Brig. Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Division, has said.
Hajizadeh stressed that the defence ministry “can play an effective and decisive role in enhancing the defence capabilities of the IRGC Aerospace Force.”
Ashtiani responded by saying that his ministry was ready to interact and cooperate with Hajizadeh's command, emphasising that “considering the vast industrial and production capabilities in the defence ministry, we will be able to make great strides in meeting the defence and military needs of the Armed Forces, especially the IRGC Aerospace Force.”
Iran's parliament approved Ashtiani and other officials in President Ebrahim Raisi's cabinet in late August, with the new government formed in the wake of elections held in June, which Raisi won in a landslide. Before his appointment to the post of defence minister, Ashtiani served as deputy chief of the armed forces, and…
