United Press International
Iran and the foreign community are divided over the intent of Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program.
The United States, Israel and many other countries have expressed concern that Iran’s nuclear energy program masks a covert nuclear weapons program. Tehran has consistently said the program is for peaceful purposes and recently Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said possession of nuclear weapons is a “sin.”
Should a military confrontation occur, however, the Islamic Revolution Guards Commander of the IRGC’s Second Naval Zone Ali Razmjou said in Iran’s Persian Gulf port city of Bushehr, which also houses the country’s first civilian nuclear power plant for generating electricity, that the nation’s naval forces stood ready to cope with any such attack.
Among the weapons to be deployed are Iran’s indigenous-built Tondar — “Thunder” — missile-launching frigates, under the naval branch of the IRGC, built by Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex C near Bandar Abbas.
Razmjou said, “By renovating and optimizing Tondar missile-launching frigates with Iranian experts and delivering them to the IRGC navy, we are displaying Iran’s naval power to the world,” Far News agency reported Wednesday.
