Iran has started production of new home-built
submarines, Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najar said Monday, dpa reported.
Najar told state television that the new submarine, called Ghaem, was capable
of carrying and firing various torpedoes and subsurface missiles with a special
operation crew onboard.
The minister said Iran has become self-sufficient in manufacturing all types of
military vessels, adding however that the Islamic state would just use its
military strength for safeguarding peace and security in the Persian Gulf and
the Sea of Oman.
In the year 2000, Iran started production of its first domestically-made
mini-submarines which reportedly finished in 2005.
The mini-submarines can accommodate a two-man crew and up to three divers and
carry out various operations such as reconnaissance and planting mines.
Russia provided Iran in 1996 with three kilo-class diesel-electric submarines
which at that time made it the only Persian Gulf state with submarines.
The Iranian submarines caused concern in the United States which considered the
submarines as a threat to the strategic balance of the volatile Persian Gulf region.