The Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, toured an underground missile production facility on Saturday as Tehran marked National Defence Industry Day while tensions with Washington remained high.
Footage released by Iranian state television shows Abdollahi walking through the facility and receiving a briefing from Iran’s Acting Defence Minister, Brigadier General Seyyed Majid Ibn al-Reza.
The facility’s exact location was not disclosed.
“Our dear colleagues at the Ministry of Defence have demonstrated a very important job here. When one enters this place, one sees nothing but hard work and effort, and alongside that, a passion for progress,” Abdollahi remarked.
He also praised the ministry’s production capabilities, saying crews had been able to “produce equipment that is much better than in the past, which possesses both superior capabilities and high quality; furthermore, they have been able to bring it to the production stage in much greater quantities than before.”
The visit coincided with Iran’s National Defence Industry Day, celebrated on August 22. Iranian officials used the occasion to promote the country’s domestic weapons production and military capabilities.
The US and Iran signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in June following mediation involving Pakistan and Qatar. The agreement halted military operations and opened a 60-day window for negotiations towards a final settlement, including disputes over freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
That deadline has since expired without a final agreement, with Washington and Tehran blaming each other for breaches of the deal as negotiations remain stalled.
Source: Viory
