Commander
of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan
and a number of other high-ranking military officials will attend the
ceremony.
In
January, Pourdastan had announced that the tank's fire control system
and stabilizer have been optimized.
He
said at the time that the new version of Zolfaqar has gone under comparison
with one of the most advanced battle tanks manufactured by the Eastern
powers and has shown increasingly higher capabilities.
Iran
will start mass-production of the tank after the approval of the General
Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, the Army Ground Force Commander said.
Yesterday,
Iran unveiled a new home-made fighter jet, named Qaher
313.
The
advanced Iranian aircraft was unveiled in a special ceremony attended
by President Ahmadinejad.
Iran
has also taken wide strides in designing and manufacturing different types
of light, semi-heavy and heavy weapons, military tools and equipment.
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.
Yet,
Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and
arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as
a threat to any other country.
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