Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatemi said his country had started producing locally designed fighter jets for use in the air force, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attacked US President Donald Trump as "disgraceful" in the United States two days before Washington re-imposed a new package of weapons. Sanctions against Tehran.
Speaking on the opening of the Kawthar production line, Hatemi said the number of combat aircraft will soon be produced.
The Iranian announcement came days before the United States imposed sanctions on Iran in an attempt to force it to curb its nuclear, missile and regional activities.
Tehran says the Kawther fighter is "100 percent homemade" and is capable of carrying various weapons and will be used for short air support missions. But some military experts believe the fighter is a replica of the F-5 fighter produced by the United States in the 1960s.
| Khamenei: Trump disgraced the remaining prestige of America (Anatolia) |
Attack America
For his part, the Supreme Leader of the Iranian Revolution Ali Khamenei said that America today seems weak and does not have the tools to impose its will or hegemony on anyone, adding in a speech in Tehran that what he called the US soft power is worn out and tends to decay, as he put it.
"This new US president has disgraced the rest of America's prestige and liberal democracy," Khamenei said in a statement on his Twitter page, quoting Khamenei. "America's tough economic and military power is also declining."
Trump announced in May the withdrawal of his country from the nuclear agreement signed in 2015, stressing that it will re-impose sanctions on Tehran, which angered the other major powers that indicated that Iran has fulfilled its obligations under the agreement to put an end to its nuclear program.