Iran equips civilian vessels with missile-launchers

Deputy Commander of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Abbas Zamini downplayed the effects of the western sanctions against Iran's defense industry, and announced that the country has equipped a large number of its civilian vessels with missile-launching systems for military operations. "We have carried out great jobs in arming (our forces) which indicates that we are not gone past the sanctions," Zamini said on Saturday. "Many units which were used to transfer passengers in the past have now been equipped and delivered to the Navy units as missile-launching vessels, meaning that they now have a fully different application," he added. Zamini underlined that all these changes are in line with the new strategy considered for the Islamic Republic Navy. Iran in late 2012 boosted its naval power in Persian Gulf waters after a new missile launching vessel and two light submarines joined its Navy fleet. The body of Sina-7 missile-launching frigate was launched in a ceremony in Iran's Southern port city of Bandar Abbas on the occasion of the National Day of the Navy in winter. During the ceremony attended by Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, two Qadir-class light submarines also joined the Iranian naval fleet.