Iran to unveil over-the-horizon radars in 6 months: Army general

A senior Iranian Army general says the Islamic Republic plans to unveil a variety of over-the-horizon radar systems covering a distance of 3,000 kilometers in six months.

Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, said on Tuesday that the systems would be unveiled by the end of the current Iranian calendar year in March 2016.

He added that the radars can help the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base "detect and monitor aircraft flying beyond [Iran's] borders."

Tuesday, the Iranian calendar date of Shahrivar 31 marks the day when the regime of slain Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Iran back in 1980 and the beginning of the Sacred Defense Week in Iran.

On September 14, the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base announced that it is installing and putting into operation a domestically-developed long-range radar system, dubbed Qaem, with a range of 1,000 kilometers in a bid to boost Iran’s air defense capability.

Iran put into service its second Qadir long-range radar system in the southwestern city of Ahvaz on July 4.

The first Qadir system was unveiled in the city of Garmsar in the central province of Semnan in June 2014. The third system is also scheduled to be unveiled in the near future.

The domestically-manufactured three-dimensional Qadir radar system, with a direct range of 1,100 kilometers, is capable of detecting targets with a very small cross section from a long distance.

Iran controlling military moves in Persian Gulf

Meanwhile, a senior military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic is fully controlling military moves by extra-regional powers in the Persian Gulf.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran seeks sustainable peace and security in the region and across the world and…does not seek to initiate a war against any country,” Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said.

He added that Iran intends to cooperate with regional countries and “has no enmity with any country except a fake regime,” an allusion to Israel which the Islamic Republic does not recognize.

Rahim Safavi also said that the Israeli regime and the US's wrong policies supported by some Arab countries since 2001 are the main factors of insecurity in the Middle East region.

The US and some of its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. Although the attack overthrew the Taliban, Afghanistan still reels from violence and insecurity.

Iran watching terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq

Also speaking on Tuesday was Commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, who said the Islamic Republic is closely watching terrorist groups currently operating in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He warned of "firm response" to anyone overstepping Iran's 40-kilometer border limits. 

Iran-Russia joint maneuver

Speaking to reporters, Iran's Navy chief Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the country’s naval forces will hold a joint naval drills with Russia.

He said Iran plans to send a flotilla to Russia within the next months to stage war games with Russian naval forces.

In recent years, Iran’s Navy has increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.

Iran’s Navy has managed to foil several attacks on both Iranian and foreign tankers during its missions in international waters.

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