Iran unveils its first domestic fighter jet

Iran unveiled its first domestic fighter jet yesterday, with President Hassan Rouhani insisting that Tehran's military strength was only designed to deter enemies and create "lasting peace".

Images on state television showed Rouhani sitting in the cockpit of the new "Kowsar" fourth-generation fighter at the National Defence Industry exhibition in Tehran. State media said it had "advanced avionics" and multi-purpose radar, and that it was "100-per cent indigenously made" for the first time. "When I speak of our readiness to defend, it means we seek lasting peace. If we lack readiness, we welcome war," Rouhani said.

Defence Minister Amir Hatami said the programme was motivated by memories of the missile attacks Iran suffered during its war with Iraq in the 1980s, and by threats from Israel and the US.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever