Tasnim � A ranking Iranian Navy commander said the Sahand destroyer which came into service on Saturday enjoys longer cruising endurance than previous homegrown vessels and is fit for ocean missions.

In comments on Saturday, Rear Admiral Alireza Sheikhi, commander of the Iranian Navy�s factories, said Sahand is the most advanced destroyer manufactured by local experts.

It weighs 1,300 tons, is 96 meters in length, and can cruise at a speed of 25 knots, he added.

The new Iranian destroyer can be equipped with various surface, subsurface and aerial weapons, and also carry out radar jamming and deception operations, the commander said, adding that with a higher fuel capacity, Sahand has longer cruising endurance than other Iranian destroyers.

Sahand can be deployed to faraway oceans and cruise in rough seas with logistical vessels for 150 days, Rear Admiral Sheikhi stated.

Sahand is a stealth destroyer furnished with anti-submarine systems, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, point-defense weapon system, and anti-aircraft guns, he explained.

In a ceremony at Iran�s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, the Sahand destroyer officially joined the Navy�s fleet.

Iran has so far launched different classes of domestically-built destroyers as part of a broad project known as Mowj (wave). The Navy has already received Jamaran and Damavand destroyers, developed by the local experts.

In a meeting with Navy commanders on Wednesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei praised as �great and fabulous� the advances that Iranian military forces, the Navy in particular, have made since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, saying the Navy�s success in bringing into service homegrown vessels such as the Sahand destroyer or Fateh and Qadir submarines heralds more progress day after day.