Iran to Mass-Produce New Home-Made Anti-Armor Weapons

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced on Tuesday that his ministry plans to start mass-production of new anti-armor weapon systems in the near future, Fars reported.

Addressing a ceremony to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Iran's Former Defense Minister Mostafa Chamran (1981), Vahidi said that Iran has named its new anti-armor weapon as 'Dehlavieh', the name of the place where Dr. Chamran was martyred.

"God-willing, the mass-production line of the new (anti-armor) system will be inaugurated in the new future," Vahidi said, declining to provide details of the new system.

Last August, the Iranian Defense Ministry started mass-production of 73-mm anti-armor rockets capable of piercing and destroying armored vehicles from a 1,300-meter distance.

"The weapon is mobile and due to its low weight, it can be carried by an individual trooper," Vahidi told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony held to launch the production line of the rocket at the time.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.


Edited by: S. Isayev