TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan praised efforts made to modernize the country�s defense industry and said the Islamic Republic has expanded the capacities of the defense sector tenfold over the past years.

�In the four-year plan devised for the (defense) ministry, serious attention has been paid to the defense industry development�,� Brigadier General Dehqan said in a speech on Tuesday.

�We have turned the defense industries into a nationwide network and increased the capacities of the industrial sectors by tenfold,� the minister stated.

He further emphasized that the defense ministry is ready to take responsibility in other sectors and participate in various development projects, in such fields as public transport, oil and gas.

Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headways in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sphere.

Tehran has always assured other nations that its military might poses no threat to the regional countries, saying that the Islamic Republic�s defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.

By Tasnim News Agency