[caption id="attachment_137142" align="alignright" width="260"] Minister of Defense Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan[/caption]

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan inaugurated a T-300 carbon fiber factory as part of a plan the ministry follows to access industrial self-sufficiency.

The Iranian commander said that his ministry is resolved to produce the required defense material locally, adding, “Increasing production of such strategic materials will meet defense industry's needs and meantime will provide large amount of the country’s civilian demands.”


Dehqan further added that carbon fibers are used in auto manufacturing, offshore platforms, digging, oil and gas extraction, wagon train, wind turbines, sporting goods, boats and bicycles, retrofitting old building and reinforcing concrete and building material.


He went on to say that the machinery and equipment of the firm have been entirely designed and built by the Iranian experts.


Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.


Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.


Iran has recently made giant advancements in aerospace industries, specially in designing and manufacturing pilotless drones.


By Fars News Agency