(Tehran) Iran said on Wednesday that local missile production had not been disrupted by Israeli strikes against military targets last weekend.
Posted at 7:29 a.m.
“We have not suffered any interruption” in production, Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh assured the press, despite statements to the contrary from Israeli officials.
“The enemy tried to damage our defensive and offensive systems,” the minister added.
For the first time, Israel publicly announced on Saturday that it had attacked Iran, its sworn enemy, and targeted military targets, in retaliation for Iranian missile attacks against Israel on 1is october.
“We promised then that we would respond forcefully. […] The air force attacked Iran and hit Iran’s defense capabilities and missile manufacturing capabilities targeting us,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
“These missiles were a direct and immediate threat to the citizens of Israel,” the Israeli army stressed.
Tehran, for its part, reported “limited damage” and reported the death of five people, including a civilian.
The Israeli strikes were condemned by several countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Syria, fearing a regional conflagration.
The Revolutionary Guards, the powerful ideological army responsible for defending the regime of the Islamic Republic, as well as the Ministry of Defense regularly announce the manufacture of new types of long and medium range missiles.
Iran’s development of military capabilities arouses the concern of many countries, first and foremost the United States and Israel, who see it as a threat.
The Iranian government proposed on Tuesday to triple the country’s military budget for the next fiscal year which begins in March 2025, in a context of heightened tensions with Israel.
