AKIPRESS.COM - ran has unveiled a new domestically-produced missile submarine amid mounting tensions with the United States and Saudi Arabia in the Persian gulf, Telegraph reports.
Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, inaugurated the Fateh, or "Conquerer", in the southern port city of Bandar Lengeh on Sunday.
"From this moment, the Fateh Submarine joins Iran's naval force with my order," he said at a ceremony broadcast live on the state-run English-language Press TV.
"Our defence power is solely defensive...Our enemy's pressure and sanctions imposed on Iran have instigated our progress," he said.
The vessel weighs 600 tonnes and is armed with torpedoes, naval mines and cruise missiles that can be launched from a submerged position, the government's English-language Press TV said.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international pressure and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons. The Fateh is its first domestically produced cruise-missile submarine.