Iran announces new air defense missile system amid nuclear talks

WATCH: Iran mid-range, high-altitude system to protect against possible future air threats from "enemy fighters."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Iran anti-rocket missile (photo credit: YouTube screenshot)
Iran anti-rocket missile
(photo credit: YouTube screenshot)
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan announced that the Islamic Republic has successfully developed a new air defense system capable of destroying modern fighter jets and drones, Iranian Fars News agency reported on Saturday.
The announcement came as nuclear negotiations in Geneva regarding Iran's nuclear program have come to an abrupt halt over disagreements in details of the text. Israeli officials have warned that Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb, but Tehran denies this and says it's uranium enrichment activities are for peaceful purposes only.
The development of this new sophisticated anti-defense system shows Iran's desire to maintain power against "enemy fighters."
“Talash (struggle) is a mid-range and high-altitude air defense system used to confront the flying targets, including fighter jets and bombers, and is also capable of destroying different helicopters and drones,” Dehqan reportedly said in Tehran on Saturday.
“Talash defense system was designed and built to detect and intercept the targets of Sayyad 2 missile (the country's latest home-made missile system with high precision, range and destruction power) to protect the country’s vital and sensitive points against surprise air threats of hi-tech combat fighters,” he told Fars.
“Now that it has had successful tests, God willing, its production line will be launched in the near future,” Dehqan said.
In September, Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli reportedly announced that Iran is following though with plans to develop a missile defense system due to possible threats which might be posed to the country in the next five years.
Esmayeeli allegedly downplayed the effects of the western sanctions on the progress of Iran's defense industry, and announced that Iran's air defense is implementing 15 operational projects now.
Also in September, another senior Iranian commander underlined the country's high level of military deterrence, and said the country's air defense is making rapid progress in accordance with the advancements made in hit-tech enemy fighter jets.
"The more advanced enemy fighters grow, the more sophisticated and advanced the Iranian air defense will be," Commander of the Eastern Zone of Iran's Air Defense Malek Ali Asadifar said in the Eastern city of Birjand.